[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84352-84353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26618]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037013; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Los Angeles County Natural 
History Museum, Los Angeles, 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 Los Angeles County Natural History 
Museum (LACNHM) has completed an inventory of human remains and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and Indian Tribes in this notice. The human remains were 
removed from Orange and Los Angeles Counties, CA.

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

ADDRESSES: Amy E. Gusick, NAGPRA Officer, Los Angeles County Museum of 
Natural History, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, 
telephone (213) 763-3370, 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 
LACNHM. 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 LACNHM.

Description

    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at a minimum, one 
individual were removed from Laguna Beach in Orange County, CA, and at 
an unknown date, they were transferred to the Laboratory of 
Anthropology of the Hancock Foundation, a now disbanded museum once 
part of the University of Southern California (U.S.C.). In 1966, these 
human remains were donated to LACNHM. The human remains (L.2397.66-1) 
consist of a mandible belonging to an adult of indeterminate sex. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at a minimum, two individuals were 
removed from Long Beach in Los Angeles County, CA. In 1953, U.S.C. and 
California State University, Long

[[Page 84353]]

Beach conducted a salvage excavation at LAN-270, a site located in the 
Los Altos neighborhood of Long Beach, under the direction of Dr. 
William J. Wallace. The human remains excavated by Wallace at Los Altos 
were transferred to the Laboratory of Anthropology of the Hancock 
Foundation, and in 1966, they were donated to LACNHM. These human 
remains consist of eight human vertebrae and two human carpals 
(L.2397.66-4) belonging of one individual and an almost complete 
skeleton (L.2397.66-12) belonging to an adult female. 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. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: anthropological, archeological, biological, historical, 
and oral traditional.
    The Acjachemen Nation, Gabrieleno Tribes and Tongva Tribes 
(``People of the Earth'') have strong cultural ties to Laguna Beach and 
Long Beach coastlines. The site of Puvungna, located on the California 
State University, Long Beach campus, is sacred to the Gabrieleno, 
Tongva, and Acjachemen for its association with their Creation account 
and Tribal history, and annual pilgrimages there by Gabrieleno, Tongva, 
and Acjachemen continue today. The Luise[ntilde]o people, which include 
the Pechanga Band of Indians, share cultural practices and beliefs with 
the Gabrieleno, Tongva, and Acjachemen, and are linguistically related.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, the LACNHM determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three 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 Pechanga Band of Indians (Previously listed as Pechanga Band of 
Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pechanga 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 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 LACNHM 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 LACNHM 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. 2023-26618 Filed 12-4-23; 8:45 am]
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