Notice2024-29943
Notice of Inventory Completion: Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA
Primary source
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Published
December 18, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (LACMNH) 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 243 (Wednesday, December 18, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 18, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 102940-102941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-29943]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039214; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Los Angeles County Museum of
Natural History, 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 Museum of Natural
History (LACMNH) 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.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or
after January 17, 2025.
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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c6a7a1b3b5afa5ad86a8aeabe8a9b4a1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="315056444258525a715f595c1f5e4356">[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 the
LACMNH, and additional information on the determinations in this
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in its
inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. The individual
was removed from Elizabeth Lake, Deadman's Cave, Los Angeles County,
CA. A nearly complete skeleton was found unnumbered in the LACMNH
collections with no accession records (HSRA-46). In 1995, LACMNH
conducted an inventory of human remains in its collections and
identified these remains to be female with an age range at the time of
death to be between 40-60. ``Elizabeth Lake'' is written on one of the
bones and ``Elizabeth Lake, Deadman's Cave'' is written on the
mandible. There are no known individuals.
Since this initial assessment, in consultation with representatives
of the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation (previously listed as San
Manuel Band of Mission Indians, California), Morongo Band of Mission
Indians, California and non-federally recognized California Indian
groups including the Fernande[ntilde]o Tataviam Band of Mission
Indians, the LACMNH has investigated the collection history of these
human remains but have not been able to identify further information.
Based on biological and geographical information, the human remains
are determined to be Native American. Archaeologists have asserted that
Serrano and Tataviam peoples have continuously occupied the Antelope
Valley, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the surrounding areas for up to
5,000-6,000 years BP. Ethnographer, John Peabody Harrington recorded
several Serrano place names throughout the Antelope Valley during his
interviews with Yuhaaviatam leader, Santos Manuel in 1918. Manuel's
testimony and Serrano Traditional Knowledge identify Elizabeth Lake as
home to Serrano peoples since time immemorial.
Human remains representing, at least, 22 individuals have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. The individuals
were removed from the Vasquez Rocks (CA-LAN-361) site in northern Los
Angeles County, CA. Owners of the land on which the site now rests, Dr.
Ascher and family, spent many years digging at the site in the mid-
1900s. In 1966, the location was bulldozed by vandals. Between 1967-
1970, LACNHM curator Dr. Charles Rozaire, as part of the California
State University, Northridge Archaeological School, held field schools
at the site, where students and supervisors excavated the bulldozed
site and recovered artifacts and bone originally identified as faunal
(non-human) bone. As a result of the looting and bulldozing, the
artifacts and bones recovered from the site were not in original
context and were highly fragmented.
In consultation with representatives of the Yuhaaviatam of San
Manuel Nation (previously listed as San Manuel Band of Mission Indians,
California) and non-federally recognized California Indian groups
including the Fernande[ntilde]o Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, in
2021, LACMNH conducted a detailed bioarcheological assessment of the
bone recovered from CA-LAN-361 resulting in identification of human
remains. The report identified 14 children with an age range between
37-39 weeks gestation/perinate and 10-12 years old. It is likely that
some of the children whose specific age ranges could not be assessed
were older than 12 years. There are at least eight adults represented.
Among them, two are likely males (represented by a mandible and a
temporal bone fragment) and one older adult. Most of the remains are
extremely fragmented and there are some non-human skeletal remains in
the assemblages. Most of the remains were impacted by the history of
vandalism and heat from cremation with varying temperatures and
exposure. There are no known humans.
Based on archaeological context and information learned from
consultations, these individuals are Native American. Based on UFO
artifact assemblage typologies, obsidian hydration readings and one
radiocarbon date, archaeological evidence demonstrates
[[Page 102941]]
that Vasquez Rocks (CA-LAN-361) was used as a cemetery between 2315
BCE--79 BCE (Caruso 1988, Garza 2012, King et al. 1974), the Middle
Holocene Period. Archaeologists have asserted that Serrano and Tataviam
peoples have continuously occupied the San Gabriel Mountains and the
surrounding areas for up to 5,000-6,000 years BP. Linguistic sources
demonstrate a strong continuous shared group identity between those
people using Vasquez Rocks roughly 3000 years ago and modern Native
Americans of Serrano and Tataviam descent. Ethnographic evidence and
Traditional Knowledge document the Agua Dulce and Sierra Pelona regions
as home to Serrano and Tataviam peoples since time immemorial.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains described in this
notice.
Determinations
The LACMNH has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 23 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains described
in this notice and the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation (previously
listed as San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, California) and the
Morongo Band of Mission Indians, California.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this
notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this
notice under 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains described in this notice to a
requestor may occur on or after January 17, 2025. If competing requests
for repatriation are received, the LACMNH 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 LACMNH is responsible for sending a copy of
this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations
identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: December 11, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-29943 Filed 12-17-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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