[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73370-73371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23543]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036526; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Eastern California Museum, 
Independence, 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 Eastern California Museum (ECM) has 
completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there 
is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes 
or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were 
removed from Inyo County, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after November 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Shawn E. Lum, Eastern California Museum, 155 Grant Street, 
P.O. Box 206, Independence, CA 93526, telephone (760) 878-0258, 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 
Eastern California Museum. 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 Eastern 
California Museum.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Inyo County, CA. The human remains were found on November 24, 
1962, at an Indian campsite near Goose Lake and northeast of 
Independence, in the Owens Valley. These human remains (Accession 
#A1942/NL1/NL2) were loaned to ECM in 1968. In 2022, with donor 
permission, the loan was converted to a gift, with the understanding 
that ECM would work to respectfully repatriate the human remains.
    Additional statement from Sean Scruggs: Theft, collections, and 
destruction of ancestral lands are the reasons repatriation by tribal 
people is necessary by people like myself, Sean Scruggs, Tribal 
Historical Preservation Officer for the Fort Independence Indian 
Reservation. The act of repatriation is honorable itself, much like 
that of the United States military when fallen soldiers are returned 
home from foreign lands. Through repatriation, tribal people work to 
restore traditional homelands by returning family members home to give 
them the peace and honor they so richly deserve.
    Tribal people have no ceremony for re-burials. Native Americans did 
not collect and desecrate burial sites, they were left intact for the 
natural world as our Creator intended. The act of repatriation puts me, 
and others, at spiritual, emotional, and physical risk by attempting to 
return these family members where they belong. Entrusted not only with 
their physical remains, but their spirit as well--tribal people get 
only one chance help a person complete their journey home.
    On May 1, 2023, a NAGPRA osteologist confirmed at least two of 
three facts that I ``felt'' prior to the assessment of the man I am 
choosing to care for. I connected with the individual and felt that he 
was a man around my age (40-50) and that he experienced something 
traumatic. He and I both share trauma in our lives. As such, my 
intuition tells me that he was a warrior and possibly a Chief among our 
people. The expert confirmed that the person is a male about 45 years 
old who had fire effects consistent with a cremation that was likely 
interrupted. Later, I had visions through this man's eyes as he went 
through the cremation whereby, I could feel the heat of the fire and 
see the flames of the fire through his eyes. I can feel his emotional 
pain and sorrow with visions of his wife and young daughter standing in 
the light of the fire as his body burned. Additionally, I felt that the 
cremation had either been stopped and or covered for fear of being 
discovered by settlers, making this event extremely traumatic and 
likely around the 1850's.
    In Payahuunad[uuml] or the Land of Flowing Water (the Owens 
Valley), which is the place of our Creation, cremations and burial 
methods changed dramatically as a result of extermination, forced 
removal, creation of reservations, and assimilation. This extreme 
generational trauma and cultural disruption still creates dramatic 
shifts in the ability of our people to pass from this life to the next. 
Native Americans were not recognized as citizens until June 2, 1924. To 
me, the only rights that our ancestors have are those few afforded by 
NAGPRA which still doesn't recognize their basic right to rest in peace 
on their ancestral homes. The extraordinary efforts of

[[Page 73371]]

Shawn Lum and the ECM staff demonstrate the very best of cooperation, 
care, and respect in helping my Tribe heal and step toward closure 
through repatriation using the NAGPRA process.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains 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.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, Eastern California Museum has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice 
and the Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the 
Fort Independence Reservation, California.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after November 24, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Eastern California Museum must determine the 
most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint 
repatriation of the human remains are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. Eastern California Museum 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: October 18, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-23543 Filed 10-24-23; 8:45 am]
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