[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 73361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23552]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036819; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural 
History, Santa Barbara, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History 
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 the State of Nebraska.

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

ADDRESSES: Luke Swetland, President and CEO, Santa Barbara Museum of 
Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, CA 93105, 
telephone (805) 682-4711, 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 
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. 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 Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from the State of Nebraska. On an unknown date, a human cranium was 
given to, or collected by, Phil Cummings Orr. Phil Orr was an 
archeologist and Curator of Paleontology and Anthropology at the Santa 
Barbara Museum of Natural History in the 1930s-1960s. Subsequently, Orr 
donated to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Orr described 
the cranium as ``Mound builder cranium, Mound Builder, Nebraska.'' No 
associated funerary objects are present.

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, kinship, 
biological, archeological, linguistic, folkloric, oral traditional, 
historical, and other information, or expert opinion, including Tribal 
traditional knowledge.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History 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 Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Omaha 
Tribe of Nebraska; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Three Affiliated Tribes of 
the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; and the Winnebago Tribe of 
Nebraska.

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, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History 
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. The Santa Barbara Museum of 
Natural History 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, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: October 18, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-23552 Filed 10-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P