[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 11934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03813]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035383; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Science, Boston, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Museum of Science, Boston has completed 
an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from Los Angeles or Santa Barbara County, 
CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after March 27, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Rebecca Melius, Sr. Curator of Collections. Museum of 
Science, Boston, 1 Science Park, Boston, MA 02114, telephone (617) 589-
0175, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Museum of Science, Boston. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the inventory or related records held by the Museum of 
Science, Boston.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Los Angeles or Santa Barbara County, CA. Incomplete provenance 
information indicates the human remains are those of a 35-year-old 
Native American female. Her incomplete skeleton and funerary objects 
were removed from an unidentified island off the coast of California 
and most likely were donated to the education department of the Museum 
of Science in 1975 by a member of the public. The donor is listed as a 
Mr. John Smith, of Huntington Beach, CA. The five associated funerary 
objects are two pieces of unmodified shell and three pieces of probable 
unmodified fish bone.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: geographical, ethnographic, and archeological.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Museum of Science, Boston has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     The five 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash 
Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after March 27, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the Museum of 
Science, Boston must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to 
repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not 
competing requests. The Museum of Science, Boston is responsible for 
sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this 
notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: February 15, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-03813 Filed 2-23-23; 8:45 am]
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