[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4652-4654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01603]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20022; 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

[[Page 4653]]

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 no cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations. 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 Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in 
this notice may proceed.

DATES: 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 Los Angeles 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) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, California 
(previously listed as the San Manual Band of Serrano Mission Indians of 
the San Manual Reservation); and the following nonfederally recognized 
Indian groups: Fernande[ntilde]o Tataviam Band of Mission Indians; 
Gabrielino/Tongva Indians of California Tribe; Gabrielino/Tongva 
Nation; Gabrieleno/Tongva Tribal Council; 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 1945, 1963, 1967, and 1968, human remains representing, at 
minimum, seven individuals were removed from Big Tujunga Wash (CA-LAN-
167) in Los Angeles County, CA. The site was excavated in 1963 by Jay 
Ruby of the UCLA Archaeological Survey. The excavation was carried out 
as a salvage project after a dragline digging operation for a sewer 
line exposed and damaged one burial within the highway right-of-way. 
The human remains from this burial were recovered at that time. 
Subsequent review of the collection also identified fragmentary remains 
from midden contexts. A second burial, excavated from the site sometime 
between 1945-1951, by Edwin Walker of the Southwest Museum, was 
included along with the 1963 collection under Accession Number 501 and 
is included here. In all, a minimum of four adults, an infant, and a 
juvenile are represented. Sex was unable to be determined for any of 
the human remains. Nelson N. Leonard led a second project during the 
summers of 1967 and 1968 as mitigation for the building of the Foothill 
Freeway over the site. From the 1967-68 project, a juvenile human molar 
was identified. Ruby dated the site to A.D. 435 to 1800. No known 
individuals were identified. The 14 associated funerary objects are 
animal bones recovered in proximity to the burial recovered in 1945.
    In 1965, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from the Hammack Street site in Los Angeles County, CA 
(CA-LAN-194). The site was excavated by Chester King of the University 
of California Davis Anthropology Department for the California 
Department of Transportation. The project was designed for mitigation 
of impacts to the site from freeway construction for the Marina 
Freeway. The collection was curated at UCLA after analysis. Site CA-
LAN-194 dates to the historic period based on the artifact analyses. 
The human remains consists of three human bone removed from midden 
contexts representing at least three individuals. No age or sex could 
be determined due to their fragmentary nature. No known individuals 
were identified. Collection documentation does not indicate any burials 
or associated funerary objects.
    The sites detailed in this notice have been identified through 
tribal consultation to be within the traditional territory of the 
Tataviam/Fernandeno and Tongva/Gabrielino people. These locations are 
consistent with ethnographic and historic documentation of the 
Tataviam/Fernandeno and Tongva/Gabrielino people.
    Linguistic and ethnohistoric evidence shows that these Takic-
speaking peoples moved into the San Fernando Valley and greater Los 
Angeles area by at least 3000 B.C. These groups have a common heritage, 
but began to diverge after arrival. Analysis of historical records from 
missions in the Greater Los Angeles area shows that at the time of 
mission recruitment, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the occupants of 
the area were descended from the populations living in the area since 
3000 B.C.
    The associated funerary objects described in this notice are 
consistent with those of groups ancestral to the present-day Tataviam/
Fernandeno and Tongva/Gabrielino people. The material cultures of 
earlier groups living in the geographical areas mentioned in this 
notice are characterized by archeologists as having passed through 
stages over the past 5,000 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 Tataviam/Fernandeno and Tongva/Gabrielino people. However, 
the Tataviam/Fernandeno and Tongva/Gabrielino people currently lack 
federal recognition within a single unified tribe.
    At the time of the excavation and removal of these human remains 
and associated funerary objects, the land from which the human remains 
and

[[Page 4654]]

associated funerary objects were removed was not the tribal land of any 
Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization. In 2014 and 2015, the 
Fowler Museum at UCLA consulted with Indian tribes who are recognized 
as aboriginal to the area from which these Native American human 
remains and associated funerary objects were removed. None of these 
Indian tribes agreed to accept control of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects. In October 2015, the Fowler Museum at UCLA 
and California Department of Transportation agreed to transfer control 
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to San Manuel Band 
of Mission Indians, California (previously listed as the San Manual 
Band of Serrano Mission Indians of the San Manual Reservation).

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 10 individuals of 
Native American ancestry based on metric and non-metric analysis.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 14 items 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), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day 
Indian tribe.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(2)(i), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to San Manuel Band 
of Mission Indians, California (previously listed as the San Manual 
Band of Serrano Mission Indians of the San Manual Reservation).

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    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 the San Manuel Band of 
Mission Indians, California (previously listed as the San Manual Band 
of Serrano Mission Indians of the San Manual Reservation), may proceed.
    The California Department of Transportation is responsible for 
notifying the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, California 
(previously listed as the San Manual Band of Serrano Mission Indians of 
the San Manual Reservation), that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 21, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-01603 Filed 1-26-16; 8:45 am]
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