Notice2025-14262
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Air Force, Vandenberg Space Force Base, Santa Barbara County, CA
Primary source
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Published
July 29, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Department of the Air Force, Vandenberg Space Force Base has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 143 (Tuesday, July 29, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 29, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35721-35722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14262]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6344; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040599; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Air Force,
Vandenberg Space Force Base, Santa Barbara County, 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 Department of the Air Force,
[[Page 35722]]
Vandenberg Space Force Base has completed an inventory of human remains
and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a
cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary
objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this
notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after August 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Josh Smallwood,
Vandenberg Space Force Base Cultural Resources, Installation Tribal
Liaison Officer/Cultural Resources Manager, SLD 30 CES/CEIEA, 1028
Iceland Avenue, Building 11146, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA 93437-
6010 email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fb888f9a9882d588969a97978c94949fd5cabb888b9a989e9d9489989ed5969297"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4b383f2a28326538262a27273c24242f657a0b383b2a282e2d2439282e65262227">[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
Department of the Air Force, 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
reasonably identified. One associated funerary object, a charmstone,
was also found. A total of 739 pieces of fragmentary human bone and one
charmstone fragment were discovered in Vandenberg Space Force Base's
Space Transportation System/West Coast Space Shuttle Legacy during
sorting of the Inactive Storage portion of Accession numbers 200, 241,
242, and 243, curated at the University of California Santa Barbara
Repository for Archaeological and Ethnographic Collections. NAGPRA
items were detected only in Accession 200. Sorting and collection
rehabilitation were completed May 21, 2024. No potentially hazardous
substances were used to treat the human remains or funerary objects.
The human remains and funerary object are reasonably identified as
Chumash in origin.
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 and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The Department of the Air Force has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of at least one individual of Native American
ancestry.
<bullet> The one funerary object described in this notice is
reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near
individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the
death rite or ceremony.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Santa Ynez
Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation,
California.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects 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 and associated funerary objects
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August
28, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the
Department of the Air Force must determine the most appropriate
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the
human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single
request and not competing requests. The Department of the Air Force is
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and
Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and any other
consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: July 9, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-14262 Filed 7-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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