[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 1, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25739-25740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10491]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los 
Angeles, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Fowler Museum at UCLA has completed an inventory of human 
remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that that there is a 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects and present-day Indian tribes. Repatriation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated 
below may occur if no additional claimants come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary 
items should contact the Fowler Museum at UCLA at the address below by 
May 31, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Wendy G. Teeter, Ph.D., Curator of Archaeology, Fowler 
Museum at UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone (310) 
825-1864.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from the Coso Junction Ranch Site, Inyo 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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Fowler 
Museum at UCLA professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big 
Pine Reservation, California; Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of 
California; Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, 
Nevada; Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the 
Fort Independence Reservation, California; Paiute-Shoshone Indians of 
the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, California; and the Paiute-
Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine 
Reservation, California.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1983, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were removed from the Coso Junction Ranch Site (CA-INY-2284), located 
at the south end of Inyo County, CA. No known individuals were 
identified. The 27 associated funerary objects are 1 awl, 1 bone tool, 
2 obsidian biface fragments, 9 bags of obsidian debitage, 4 stone 
metate fragments, 4 bags of animal bone, 1 obsidian hydration sample, 
and 5 bags of organic flotation residue.
    The collection was excavated in the course of a UCLA Field School 
conducted in the summer of 1983 under the supervision of David Whitley. 
The Coso Junction Ranch Site (CA-INY-2284) was a large village site 
located at the south end of Inyo County, CA. The site dates from about 
3500-800 BP (David Whitley, January 20, 1996 email), and mostly from 
the Gypsum and Rose Spring periods based on analysis of diagnostic 
artifacts and obsidian hydration dating. The Fowler Museum at UCLA has 
determined the human remains and associated funerary objects to be 
Panamint Shoshone, ancestors of the present-day the Death Valley Timbi-
Sha Shoshone Band of California and the Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the 
Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation, California, based on 
ethnography, the prehistoric distribution of Numic languages, and 
various treaties, Acts of Congress, and

[[Page 25740]]

Executive Orders. A claim for repatriation has been given by the Lone 
Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation, California.

Determinations Made by the Fowler Museum at UCLA

    Officials of the Fowler Museum at UCLA have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9)-(10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of two individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 27 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.
     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 Death 
Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of California and the Paiute-Shoshone 
Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation, 
California.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Wendy G. Teeter, Ph.D., Curator of Archaeology, 
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, 
telephone (310) 825-1864, before May 31, 2012. Repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Paiute-Shoshone 
Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation, 
California, may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Fowler Museum at UCLA is responsible for notifying the Big Pine 
Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine 
Reservation, California; Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of 
California; Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, 
Nevada; Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the 
Fort Independence Reservation, California; Paiute-Shoshone Indians of 
the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, California; and the Paiute-
Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine 
Reservation, California that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 26, 2012.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-10491 Filed 4-30-12; 8:45 am]
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