[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4646-4648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01594]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20020; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Fowler Museum at the University 
of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, and California Department 
of Transportation, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Fowler Museum at the University of California Los Angeles 
(UCLA) and the California Department of Transportation have completed 
an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation 
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-
day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants 
or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization 
not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control 
of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request to the California Department of Transportation. If no 
additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, 
Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice 
may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the California Department of Transportation 
at the address in this notice by February 26, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Tina Biorn, California Department of Transportation, P.O. 
Box 942874 MS 27, Sacramento, CA 94271-0001, telephone (916) 653-0013, 
email [email protected].

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 physical custody of the Fowler 
Museum at UCLA and under the control of the California Department of 
Transportation. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, 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 Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California, and the following nonfederally recognized 
Indian groups: Barbareno Chumash Council; Barbareno/Ventureno Band of 
Mission Indians; Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation; Fernande[ntilde]o 
Tataviam Band of Mission Indians; Gabrielino/Tongva Indians of 
California Tribe; Gabrielino/Tongva Nation; Gabrieleno/Tongva Tribal 
Council; Northern Chumash Tribe; San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians; 
Ti'at Society; and the Traditional Council of Pimu.

History and Description of the Human Remains and Associated Funerary 
Objects

    In 1966 and 1967, human remains representing at minimum, 108 
individuals were removed from Xucu

[[Page 4647]]

(CA-SBA-1) in Santa Barbara County, CA. Excavations were undertaken by 
a UCLA field course directed by Patrick Finnerty for the State Division 
of Highways prior to construction of Highway 101. This work continued 
in 1967, in addition to excavations led by Gary Stickel within an 
adjacent cemetery. Both sets of collections were curated upon 
completion of analysis as provided in the permits. Not all of the 1966 
burials were curated at UCLA, and their current location is unknown. 
Radiocarbon dates have occupation from 5500 B.C. through Spanish 
contact periods. In 1966, formal burials and fragmentary human remains 
were discovered and removed for curation. The total minimum number of 
individuals represented are 28, identified as 16 adults (1 male, 1 
female, and 14 unidentified), 2 sub-adults, 2 juvenile, and 3 infants. 
Another 5 individuals were too fragmentary to identify age or sex. In 
1967, 43 burials were formally identified, however several where left 
in-situ after recording them. In addition, fragmentary human remains 
were recovered. In total, a minimum number of 80 individuals can be 
identified as 60 adults, 3 sub-adults, 12 juveniles, 3 infants, and 2 
perinatal. In addition 21 were identifiable as male and 11 as female. 
No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects 
were identified for the burials found in 1966. The 726 associated 
funerary objects excavated in 1967 included 19 pieces and 1 bag of 
asphaltum fragments; 20 pieces of worked bone; 189 pieces and 3 bags of 
unmodified animal bone; 1 piece of charcoal; 12 pieces of hematite; 14 
pieces of limonite; 1 fragment of a paper candlewick; 2 bags of soil 
samples; 1 wood fragment; 123 pieces and 2 bags of unmodified shell; 2 
asphaltum plugged abalone shells; 22 shell beads; 7 bowl/mortar 
fragments; 167 groundstone tools and fragments; 139 chipped stone tools 
and flakes; and 1 steatite pipe.
    In 1969-1970, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from Kasil (CA-SBA-87) in Santa Barbara County, 
CA. Excavations by G. James West occurred at the request of the 
Division of Highways as a salvage project undertaken prior to highway 
construction on Highway 101. Collections were accessioned at UCLA as 
they returned from the field. The village dates from A.D. 300 to 1500. 
Human remains consist of a single burial representing an adult male. 
The burial was disturbed when a bulldozer cut a trench on the upper 
terrace. Further investigation of the trench failed to show the exact 
burial location. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects were identified.
    From 1961 to 1963, human remains representing, at minimum, five 
individuals were removed from Rincon Point (CA-SBA-119) in Santa 
Barbara County, CA. Excavations in 1961 and 1962 were led by Patrick 
Finnerty while still in high school. Most of the human remains and 
artifacts have not been located, however at least some of three burials 
and objects have been found and curated at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. 
In 1963, excavations were directed by Keith Johnson with the UCLA 
Archaeological Survey preliminary as a salvage excavation due to the 
re-location of U.S. Highway 101 which would pass through the site. The 
collection was curated at UCLA upon completion of the field work. The 
site dates from 1735 to 1320 B.C. The human remains consist of a single 
burial with a minimum of two individuals: A sub-adult male and an 
adult, sex unknown. The three relocated burials represent a minimum of 
three individuals, one adult male, one juvenile, and one adult with 
undetermined sex. No known individuals were identified. The 16 
associated funerary objects include 8 sandstone mortar fragments from a 
1962 burial and 2 shell fragments, 1 bone hairpin, 3 biface, 1 
unmodified animal bone, and 1 serpentine pendant from a 1963 burial.
    In 1968 and 1969, human remains representing, at minimum, 16 
individuals were removed from Pitas Point (CA-VEN-27) in Ventura 
County, CA. Excavations were conducted by a University of California 
Archaeological Survey crew under the direction of Chester King. The 
excavation was part of a salvage project for the realignment of Highway 
101, and took place on land owned by Caltrans. This collection was 
curated at UCLA after analysis was complete. Analysis of the artifacts 
places the site occupation to A.D. 1000-1550. Three formal burials and 
fragmentary human remains recovered from midden contexts include 13 
adults (2 male, 1 female, and 10 unidentified), 1 juvenile, and 1 
infant. One fragmentary remain could not be aged or sex determined. No 
known individuals were identified. The 50 associated funerary objects 
include 2 bags and 6 pieces of unmodified animal bone, 2 worked bone 
fragments, 1 bag of charcoal, 6 bags of asphaltum, 1 bag and 2 
individual tarring pebbles, 5 bags of unmodified shell, 1 shell 
fishhook fragment, 1 shell bead fragment, 21 chipped stone flakes and 
tools, 1 fire cracked rock, and 1 pestle.
    The sites detailed in this notice have been identified through 
tribal consultation to be within the traditional territory of the 
Chumash people. These locations are consistent with ethnographic and 
historic documentation of the Chumash people.
    The Chumash territory, anthropologically defined first on the basis 
of linguistic similarities, and subsequently on broadly shared material 
and cultural traits, reaches from San Luis Obispo to Malibu on the 
coast, inland to the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, to the 
edge of the San Fernando Valley, and includes the four Northern Channel 
Islands. At the southern and southeastern boundaries of the territory 
there is evidence of the physical co-existence of Chumash, Tataviam, 
and Gabrielino/Tongva languages and beliefs systems. At the northern 
boundary of the territory there is evidence of the physical co-
existence of Chumash and Salinan groups. The sites in this notice are 
located in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and fall within the 
geographical area identified as Chumash. Some tribal consultants state 
that these areas were the responsibility of regional leaders, who were 
themselves organized into a pan-regional association of both political 
power and ceremonial knowledge. Further, these indigenous areas are 
identified by some tribal consultants to be relational with clans or 
associations of traditional practitioners of specific kinds of 
indigenous medicinal and ceremonial practices. Some tribal consultants 
identified these clans as existing in the pre-contact period and 
identified some clans as also existing in the present day. Other tribal 
consultants do not recognize present-day geographical divisions to be 
related to clans of traditional practitioners. However, they do state 
that Chumash, Tataviam, and Gabrielino/Tongva territories were and are 
occupied by socially distinct, yet interrelated, groups which have been 
characterized by anthropologists. Ethnographic evidence suggests that 
the social and political organization of the pre-contact Channel 
Islands were primarily at the village level, with a hereditary chief, 
in addition to many other specialists who wielded power.
    The associated funerary objects described in this notice are 
consistent with those of groups ancestral to the present-day Chumash, 
Tataviam, and Gabrielino/Tongva people. The material cultures of 
earlier groups living in the geographical areas mentioned in this 
notice are characterized by archeologists

[[Page 4648]]

as having passed through stages over the past 10,000 years. Many local 
archeologists assert that the changes in the material culture reflect 
evolving ecological adaptations and related changes in social 
organization of the same populations and do not represent population 
displacements or movements. The same range of artifact types and 
materials were used from the early pre-contact period until historic 
times. Tribal consultants explicitly state that population mixing, 
which did occur on a small scale, would not alter the continuity of the 
shared group identities of people associated with specific locales. 
Based on this evidence, continuity through time can be traced for all 
sites listed in this notice with present-day Chumash people, 
specifically the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the 
Santa Ynez Reservation, California.

Determinations Made by the California Department of Transportation

    Officials of the California Department of Transportation have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 130 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 792 objects 
described in this notice 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 Santa 
Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 
California.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Tina Biorn, California Department of 
Transportation, P.O. Box 942874 MS 27, Sacramento, CA 94271-0001, 
telephone (916) 653-0013, email [email protected], by February 26, 
2016. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California, may proceed.
    The California Department of Transportation is responsible for 
notifying the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa 
Ynez Reservation, California, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 21, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-01594 Filed 1-26-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P