[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 1, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25743-25744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10497]


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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, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has 
determined that that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and present-day Indian tribes. Repatriation of the human 
remains to the Indian tribe 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 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 in the 
possession of the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. The human 
remains were removed from the Sacramento River Basin, Butte 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. 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 Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California and the 
Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, California, and with the 
Cultural Preservation Committee of Koyomi'Kawi (Konkow) Maidu Tribe (a 
non-Federally recognized Indian group).

History and Description of the Remains

    In the summer of 1967, human remains representing, at minimum, 
three individuals were removed from the Finch Site (CA-BUT-12), in the 
Sacramento River Basin, Butte County, CA. The remains were excavated 
during a UCLA field school conducted under the direction of Joseph 
Chartkoff. The human remains consist of three molars

[[Page 25744]]

representing no more than three separate individuals. The degree of 
wear and root development on the teeth suggest that two of these 
individuals were juveniles, and one was likely an adult. The sex of the 
individuals cannot be determined. No known individuals were identified. 
No associated funerary objects are present.
    Osteological and archaeological analyses have determined that the 
teeth are likely of Native American origin. Everett Smith, an elder, 
J.D. Smith, Chair of the Cultural Preservation Committee, and Arlene 
Ward, Mechoopda Maidu Tribe, have identified the recovery site as 
within the traditional territory of the Northwestern Maidu. The 
geographic location is consistent with the historically documented 
Konkow or Northwestern Maidu territory. Butte County, CA, is in the 
Central Valley region of traditional lands of the Maidu. Descendants of 
the Konkow or Northwestern Maidu were dispersed and became members of 
the Federally recognized tribes of the Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu 
Indians of California; Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of 
California; Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, California; 
Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California; and the Round 
Valley Indian Tribes of Round Valley Reservation, California. Multiple 
lines of evidence, including treaties, Acts of Congress, and Executive 
Orders, indicate that the land from which the human remains were 
removed is the aboriginal land of the Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu 
Indians of California; Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of 
California; Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, California; 
Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California; and the Round 
Valley Indian Tribes of Round Valley Reservation, California. A claim 
of repatriation has been received from the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of 
Chico Rancheria, 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 three individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     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 the Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians 
of California; Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California; 
Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, California; Mooretown 
Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California; and the Round Valley Indian 
Tribes of Round Valley Reservation, California.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains 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 to the Mechoopda Indian 
Tribe of Chico Rancheria, California may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The Fowler Museum at UCLA is responsible for notifying the Berry 
Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California; Enterprise Rancheria of 
Maidu Indians of California; Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, 
California; Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California; and the 
Round Valley Indian Tribes of Round Valley Reservation, California that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 26, 2012.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-10497 Filed 4-30-12; 8:45 am]
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