[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 129 (Monday, July 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40315-40317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14398]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030387; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Interior Region 10, California-Great Basin, 
Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 
Interior Region 10, California-Great Basin (Reclamation Region 10), has 
completed

[[Page 40316]]

an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, and has 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 Reclamation Region 10. 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 Reclamation Region 10 at the address in 
this notice by August 5, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Melanie Ryan, NAGPRA Specialist/Physical Anthropologist, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Interior Region 10, California-Great Basin, MP-
153, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825, telephone (916) 978-5526, 
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 under the control of the U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Interior Region 10, California-
Great Basin, Sacramento, CA. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from lands in Ventura 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 and associated funerary 
objects was made by Reclamation Region 10 professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash 
Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1958 and 1959, the human remains of, at minimum, 15 individuals 
were removed from two sites in Ventura County, CA, owned by the Bureau 
of Reclamation--Las Casitas I (CA-VEN-48) and Las Casitas III (CA-VEN-
115). The human remains were removed during excavations carried out by 
the University of Southern California under the direction of William 
Wallace ahead of Reclamation's Ventura River Project and construction 
of the Casitas Dam, Dike, and Reservoir.
    In 1964, the collections from Las Casitas I and III were 
transferred from the University of Southern California to the 
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where they remain in the 
custody of UCLA's Fowler Museum. In 2017, Reclamation Region 10 
discovered that the collections from Las Casita I and III are under 
Reclamation's control and contain human remains and associated funerary 
objects.
    The human remains from Las Casitas I (CA-VEN-48; UCLA Number 446) 
represent nine individuals--eight formal burials and 48 pieces of 
disarticulated, fragmentary remains. Evidence of rodent activity on the 
human remains might account for the disparate proveniences of the 48 
bone fragments. Among the human remains are two older adult females; 
one young adult male; two adult males; one older adult male; and two 
adults of indeterminate sex. No known individuals were identified. The 
95 associated funerary objects are 56 shell beads, 13 pieces of animal 
bone, 10 sandstone manos, three pieces of worked bone, four pieces of 
worked ochre, two pieces of chert debitage, one bone scraper, one chert 
scraper, one chert core, one chert projectile point, one quartzite 
core/hammerstone, one sandstone ground stone ball, and one stone 
fragment. (According to the Fowler Museum's records, there were 
originally 97 associated funerary objects, but one worked bone and one 
drilled cowrie shell were lost in a fire in 1970.)
    The human remains from Las Casitas III (CA-VEN-115; UCLA Number 
448) represent six individuals--five formal burials and 15 teeth 
recovered from a midden context. No known individuals were identified. 
The two associated funerary objects are shell beads. (According to the 
Fowler Museum's records, as of May 28, 1976, one chert scraper was 
apparently lost while on loan.)
    The amount of wear on the dentition and the associated artifacts 
indicate that the human remains are Native American. In consultation 
with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians, of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California, Reclamation Region 10 determined that the land 
from which these human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed is within traditional territory of the Chumash, and that the 
associated funerary objects are consistent with those groups who are 
ancestral to present day Chumash.

Determinations made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Interior Region 10, California-Great Basin Office

    Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Interior Region 10, California-Great Basin Office have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 15 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 97 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 Melanie Ryan, NAGPRA Specialist/Physical 
Anthropologist, Bureau of Reclamation, Interior Region 10, California-
Great Basin, MP-153, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825, telephone 
(916) 978-5526, email [email protected], by August 5, 2020. After that 
date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 
Interior Region

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10, California-Great Basin Office 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: May 27, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-14398 Filed 7-2-20; 8:45 am]
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