Notice2025-10021
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA
Primary source
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Published
June 3, 2025
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) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects or objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 105 (Tuesday, June 3, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 23553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10021]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040239; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: 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) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet
the definition of unassociated funerary objects or objects of cultural
patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes
or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after July 3, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Amy E. Gusick, NAGPRA Officer, Los
Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los
Angeles, CA 90007, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#dbbabcaea8b2b8b09bb5b3b6f5b4a9bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b6d7d1c3c5dfd5ddf6d8dedb98d9c4d1">[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 the
summary or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
A total of 11 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The two unassociated funerary objects are a ceramic jar and a ceramic
figurine. The nine objects of cultural patrimony are six lots of
potsherds, two ceramic jars, and a mano fragment. These 11 cultural
items were removed from within Riverside County, California, at various
times. In 1935, Frederick Ferguson Taylor II collected a ceramic
figurine from Taylor Ranch near Highway 74 in Palm Desert, purportedly
near a burial. Robert J. Raring donated this figurine to LACMNH in
1971. In 1923, Anna Wilson donated a ceramic jar that was found in the
mountains near Indian Wells in Coachella Valley to LACMNH. In 1971, the
Native Daughters of the Golden West, Tijera Parlor Chapter, donated pot
sherds and a mano fragment, collected by Carl D. Hegner in Palm
Springs, to LACMNH. In 1961, the California Institute of Technology
donated pot sherds found North-East of Whitewater (between Palm Springs
and Cabazon) to LACMNH. In 1941, H. A.Van Horman donated a ceramic jar
found at an aqueduct near Palm Springs or Indio, to LACMNH. In 1927,
W.M. Wellborn donated a ceramic jar found near Edom to LACMNH. Pot
sherds from the Coachella Valley area were found at an unknown time.
The circumstances around LACMNH's acquisition of these potsherds is
unknown.
Determinations
The LACMNH has determined that:
<bullet> The two unassociated funerary objects described in this
notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with
or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death
or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American
culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a
lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The
unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance
of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or
families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an
individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe
or Native Hawaiian organization.
<bullet> The nine objects of cultural patrimony described in this
notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance
central to the Native American group, including any constituent sub-
group (such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other
subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
<bullet> There is a reasonable connection between the cultural
items described in this notice and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla
Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, California.
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified
in this notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be
submitted by 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 cultural items in this notice to a requestor
may occur on or after July 3, 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 cultural items 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 and to any other consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
Dated: May 21, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-10021 Filed 6-2-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 3, 2025.
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