[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54350-54351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17130]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036324; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Fowler Museum at 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: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the California Department of Transportation 
(Caltrans) with the assistance of the Fowler Museum at University of 
California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and 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 County, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after September 11, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Emily Castano, California Department of Transportation, P.O. 
Box 942874 MS 27, Sacramento, CA 94271-0001, telephone (916) 956-0098, 
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 
Caltrans. 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 Caltrans.

Description

    In 1997, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from site CA-LAN-2233 in Los Angeles County, CA. Caltrans 
initiated an emergency effort to recover burials located in the path of 
a construction project to improve State Route 126. Following the 
recovery, human remains and one associated funerary object were sent to 
the University of California, Riverside (UCR) radiocarbon dating lab 
for dating. In August of 2021, UCR sent the human remains and the 
associated funerary object listed in this notice to the Fowler Museum 
at UCLA. The one associated funerary object is an elk antler.

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,

[[Page 54351]]

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: anthropological, archeological, 
geographical, historical, oral traditional, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, Caltrans has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The one object 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 September 11, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, Caltrans 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. Caltrans 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, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: August 2, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-17130 Filed 8-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P