[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 178 (Friday, September 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63605-63606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19959]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036554; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, 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 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) 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 and Ventura Counties, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after October 16, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, PMAE, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 
02138, telephone (617) 496-3702, 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 
PMAE. 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 PMAE.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 43 individuals were removed 
from Los Angeles County, CA. In 1877, Paul Schumacher led an expedition 
on behalf of the PMAE to the Channel Islands. Schumacher removed the 
human remains from an area he described as ``Graves at the Isthmus'' on 
Santa Catalina Island. The 15 associated funerary objects are one bone 
awl; one lot consisting of glass and shell beads; one lot consisting of 
brass buttons and glass and shell beads; one lot consisting of shell 
beads and faunal fragments; one lot consisting of fragmentary faunal 
remains; one lot consisting of a copper cup, cloth, basket fragments, 
and a string of beads; and nine bags of shells beads.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from Los Angeles County, CA. During the 1877 expedition, 
Schumacher removed the human remains from an area he identified as 
Johnson's Place on Santa Catalina Island. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from Los Angeles County, CA. As part of the same 1877 
expedition, Schumacher removed the human remains from an area he 
identified as Pots Valley on Santa Catalina Island. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 23 individuals were removed 
from Los Angeles County, CA. In 1877, Paul Schumacher visited San 
Clemente Island as part of the PMAE expedition and removed the human 
remains from unknown locations on San Clemente Island. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, five individuals were 
removed from Los Angeles County, CA. In 1878, Paul Schumacher led an 
expedition on behalf of the PMAE to the Channel Islands. During this 
expedition, he removed the human remains from a place he identified as 
Whitney's Place on Santa Catalina Island. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was removed 
from San Nicolas Island in Ventura County, CA, at an unknown date. Mrs. 
Thomas Bishop donated the human remains to the PMAE in 1907. Bishop 
likely acquired the human remains from Paul Schumacher after one of his 
expeditions to San Nicolas Island between 1875 and 1878. No known 
associated funerary objects are present.

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 evidence were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: oral traditional, geographical, biological, kinship, and 
archeological.
    Oral tradition, geographical, biological, kinship, and 
archeological evidence indicate the southern Channel Islands are 
culturally affiliated to the mainland coastal groups that are known in 
the anthropological record as the Luise[ntilde]o, Chumash, and 
Gabrielino peoples. (The Gabrielino, a nonfederally recognized Indian 
group, are related linguistically to the Luise[ntilde]o.)

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the PMAE has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 76 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 15 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 La Jolla Band of Luiseno 
Indians, California; Pala Band of Mission Indians; Pauma Band of 
Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pauma & Yuima Reservation, California; 
Pechanga Band of Indians (Previously listed as Pechanga Band of Luiseno 
Mission Indians of the Pechanga Reservation, California); Rincon Band 
of Luiseno Indians (Previously listed as Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission 
Indians of Rincon Reservation, California); Santa Ynez Band of Chumash 
Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California; and the 
Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, 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

[[Page 63606]]

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 October 16, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the PMAE 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 PMAE is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribes 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: September 8, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-19959 Filed 9-14-23; 8:45 am]
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