[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 63154]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-25873]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the UCLA Fowler
Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, Los
Angeles, CA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9,
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated
funerary objects in the possession of the UCLA Fowler Museum of
Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles,
CA.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 (c). The
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these Native
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within this
notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the UCLA
Fowler Museum of Cultural History professional staff in consultation
with representatives of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of
the Pechanga Reservation, California.
At an unknown date, human remains representing one individual were
recovered by Eugene Nickens under unknown circumstances from the Perris
site (CA-RIV-126), Riverside County, CA. These human remains were
donated by Mr. Nickens to the University of California, Los Angeles in
1951. No known individual was identified. The 18 associated funerary
objects are 16 pottery sherds, 1 deer scapula, and 1 bird bone. The age
of the site has not been determined, however, the presence of ceramics
suggests a protocontact or postcontact date. The site is located within
the traditional territory of the Luiseno Mission Indians. The artifacts
are consistent with others documented as associated with the indigenous
inhabitants of the area. Raymond Basquez, Chairperson of the tribal
Cultural Resources Department, Elder, and traditional religious leader,
identified the deer scapula as a ceremonial sweat scraper and the
pottery sherds as possibly part of a ceremonial urn. He also identified
the site as being within the ancestral territory of the Pechanga Band
of the Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pechanga Reservation, California.
In 1965, human remains representing one individual were removed
from the Rancho site (CA-RIV-364), Riverside County, CA, by Dr. Joseph
L. Chartkoff. Dr. Chartkoff donated these human remains to the
University of California, Los Angeles the same year. No known
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
The Rancho site (CA-RIV-364) is close to the present-day Pechanga
Reservation, in the valley of Temecula Creek. Geographical location and
archeological and oral traditional evidence support the association of
this site with precontact and historic village sites within the
territory of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the
Pechanga Reservation, California. The site is well known, by both oral
tradition and archeological documentation, to be a precontact and
postcontact cremation and burial site. Some artifacts collected from
the surface, such as a plate fragment, broken glass, lathe-turned
inkbottle, and metal button, appear to date to the Spanish or Mexican
period in California. According to Mr. Basquez, when traditional
cremation practices gave way after contact to inhumation, Luiseno
peoples' personal possessions often were collected, burned, and placed
at traditional cremation/cemetery areas even though the person may have
been buried elsewhere. The Rancho site was visited by members of the
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians Cultural Committee, who identified the
human remains and artifacts collected there as part of the traditional
Luiseno cremation and memorial offering rites. Tizon Brown pottery
sherds found at the site are consistent with a Late Prehistoric and
historic age.
Officials of the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History have
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains
listed above represent the physical remains of two individuals of
Native American ancestry. Officials of the UCLA Fowler Museum of
Cultural History have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2
(d)(2), the 18 objects listed above 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. Lastly, it has been
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship
of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between these
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and the
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, Pechanga Reservation,
California.
This notice has been sent to officials of the Pechanga Band of
Luiseno Mission Indians, Pechanga Reservation, California.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Diana Wilson, UCLA NAGPRA Coordinator, Office of
the Vice Chancellor, Research, University of California, Los Angeles,
Box 951405, Los Angeles, California 90095-1405, telephone (310) 825-
1864, before November 12, 2002. Repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission
Indians, Pechanga Reservation, California may begin after that date if
no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: August 28, 2002
Robert Stearns,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-25873 Filed 10-9-02; 8:45 am]
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