[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 37 (Monday, February 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10054-10055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3456]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Denver Museum of Nature & 
Science, Denver, CO

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 control of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 
Denver, CO. The

[[Page 10055]]

human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Kern 
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 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and the associated 
funerary objects was made by Denver Museum of Nature & Science 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Picayune 
Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian 
Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Table Mountain 
Rancheria of California; and Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River 
Reservation, California.
    Sometime between 1928 and 1934, human remains representing a 
minimum of four individuals were removed from a burial context in the 
area of Buena Vista Lake, Kern County, CA. Mr. George E. Smith may have 
collected the human remains and associated funerary objects in 1928, 
while digging and privately collecting in the Buena Vista Lake 
vicinity, or sometime between 1933 and 1934 while Mr. Smith was working 
on an archeological excavation with Dr. W. D. Strong of the Smithsonian 
Institution at the ancient Yokuts site of Tulamniu at Buena Vista Lake. 
In 1951, Mary W. A. Crane and Francis V. Crane purchased the human 
remains and associated funerary objects from Mr. Smith's small museum 
in California. In 1983, the Cranes donated the human remains and the 
museum accessioned them into the collection that same year (DMNS 
catalogue numbers AC.2157A-E). No known individuals were identified. 
The three associated funerary objects are three stone projectile 
points.
    Based on provenience, museum records, research, and consultation 
with tribal representatives, the human remains and associated funerary 
objects are determined to be Native American. The Buena Vista Lake 
vicinity and the Native American town of Tulamniu are in the territory 
occupied during the early Historic period by the Southern Valley 
Yokuts, now known as the Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River 
Reservation, California. During consultation, representatives of the 
Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California 
confirmed the historic presence of their ancestors in the Buena Vista 
Lake area and claimed a relationship of shared group identity with the 
human remains. Additionally, in consultations, and with support of 
anthropological evidence, tribal representatives emphasized that the 
Buena Vista Lake vicinity relates to the Yokut people, the ancestors of 
the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa 
Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Table 
Mountain Rancheria of California; and Tule River Indian Tribe of the 
Tule River Reservation, California. These tribes confirmed the historic 
presence of their ancestors in the Buena Vista Lake area and claim a 
relationship of shared group identity with the human remains.
    Officials of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of four individuals of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science 
officials have also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), 
the three 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 the 
Denver Museum of Nature & Science officials have also 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 Picayune 
Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian 
Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Table Mountain 
Rancheria of California; and Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River 
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 Dr. Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Denver Museum of 
Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205, telephone 
(303) 370-6378, before March 26, 2008. Repatriation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the Picayune Rancheria of 
Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian Community of the 
Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Table Mountain Rancheria of 
California; and Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, 
California may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is responsible for notifying 
the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa 
Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Table 
Mountain Rancheria of California; and Tule River Indian Tribe of the 
Tule River Reservation, California that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 22, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-3456 Filed 2-22-08; 8:45 am]
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