[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84351-84352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26612]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037008; 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 (PMAE) 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 Santa Barbara and Los 
Angeles Counties, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after January 4, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, PMAE, Harvard University, 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

[[Page 84352]]

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, 25 individuals were removed 
from the Channel Islands, CA. In 1875, Paul Schumacher led a joint 
expedition on behalf of PMAE and the Smithsonian Institution to what he 
referred to as the Santa Barbara Islands, which are today known as the 
Channel Islands. During this expedition, he removed human remains from 
San Miguel Island (Santa Barbara County), Santa Cruz Island (Santa 
Barbara County), San Nicolas Island (Ventura County), and Santa 
Catalina Island (Los Angeles County). The Smithsonian Institution 
received the majority of those human remains. One hundred crania 
removed from San Miguel Island and Santa Cruz Island, and 25 mandibles 
identified as coming from the Santa Barbara Islands were sent to PMAE. 
Based on PMAE having received human remains that came from San Miguel 
Island and Santa Cruz Island, the mandibles most likely came from one 
or both of those islands, too. No known associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Human remains, representing at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Santa Barbra County, California. In 1934, PMAE received these 
human remains from the Gila Pueblo Foundation, which identified them as 
coming from Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara County, CA. No known associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Human remains, representing at minimum one individual, were removed 
from Los Angeles County, CA. In 1939, Isaac Richardson donated to the 
PMAE the remains of an individual that were recovered from Los Angeles 
County, CA. The individual was unearthed by a steam shovel in Los 
Flores Canyon, five miles from Santa Monica on Roosevelt Highway. No 
known 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 evidence were 
used to reasonably trace the relationship: oral traditional, 
geographical, and biological.

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 27 individuals 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 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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after January 4, 2024. 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 are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. The PMAE 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: November 28, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-26612 Filed 12-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P