[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 37 (Monday, February 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 10053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3449]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, CA and 
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 
and in the control of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National 
Park Service, Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, CA. The human 
remains and associated funerary objects were removed from an 
archeological site in Channel Islands National Park, Ventura County, 
CA.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
superintendent, Channel Islands National Park.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by the Fowler Museum at UCLA and Channel Islands 
National Park professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California.
    In 1958, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from the Le Dreau Cove Site on the south end of West 
Anacapa Island in Ventura County, CA, during legally authorized 
excavations by Marshall McKusick and Charles Rozaire of the University 
of California Archeological Survey and the UCLA Department of 
Anthropology, as a part of the Channel Islands Research Project. No 
known individuals were identified. The six associated funerary objects 
are two shell fragments, two animal bone fragments, and two stone 
fragments.
    The human remains and associated funerary objects at the Le Dreau 
Cove Site date to a Late Period prehistoric population and culture that 
is regarded to be ancestral to historic and contemporary Chumash 
Indians. The prehistoric group is represented archeologically by the 
``Canalino Horizon.''
    Most archeologists believe that changes in Chumash material culture 
reflect evolving ecological adaptations and related changes in social 
organization of the same populations, and do not represent population 
movements. The same range of artifact types and materials was used from 
the early pre-contact period until historic times. Native consultants 
explicitly state that population mixing would not alter the continuity 
of the shared group identities of people associated with specific 
locales. Therefore, continuity through time can be traced for Le Dreau 
Cove with present-day Chumash groups. In addition, Le Dreau Cove is 
located within the historically documented aboriginal territory of the 
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California.
    Officials of Channel Islands National Park have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of three individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of Channel Islands National Park also have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the six objects 
described above are reasonably believed to have been placed with or 
near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of 
the death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of Channel Islands 
National Park have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), 
there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably 
traced between the Native American human remains and associated 
funerary objects and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of 
the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Russell E. Galipeau Jr., superintendent, Channel 
Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, CA 93001, 
telephone (805) 658-5700, before March 26, 2008. Repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Santa Ynez Band of 
Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Channel Islands National Park is responsible for notifying Santa 
Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 
California that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 24, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-3449 Filed 2-22-08; 8:45 am]
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