Notice2023-23543
Notice of Inventory Completion: Eastern California Museum, Independence, CA
Primary source
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Published
October 25, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73370-73371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[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
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#eb8e88869e988e9e86ab8285928488849e859f92c59e98"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ddb8beb0a8aeb8a8b09db4b3a4b2beb2a8b3a9a4f3a8ae">[email protected]</span></a>.
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:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> 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]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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