Notice2026-03558
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Primary source
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Published
February 23, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Fowler Museum at UCLA intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/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 91 Issue 35 (Monday, February 23, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8510-8512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03558]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6934; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042040; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Fowler Museum at UCLA, 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 Fowler Museum at UCLA intends to
repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of
unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/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 March 25, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Allison Fischer-Olson, Fowler Museum
at UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f392959a80909b96819c9f809c9db392818780dd86909f92dd969786"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="69080f001a0a010c1b06051a060729081b1d1a471c0a0508470c0d1c">[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
Fowler Museum at UCLA, 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 216 lots of cultural items have been requested for
repatriation.
The five lots of objects of cultural patrimony are a projectile
point fragment, projectile point, shell bead, and abalone shell
fragments. These cultural items were removed from the surface of site
KN-2, located in Kern County, CA, prior to 1953 by an unknown
collector. They were received by the Fowler Museum at UCLA prior to
October 1953 and comprise Accession 81. Treatment history of these
items is unknown. In consultation with the Tejon Indian Tribe, these
items were identified as culturally affiliated with the Tribe and were
removed from their ancestral territory.
The 33 lots of objects of cultural patrimony are chipped stone
artifacts, lithic flakes, shell beads, and a shell
[[Page 8511]]
fragment. These cultural items were removed from the surface of site
KN-61, located in Kern County, CA, circa 1950 by Georgiana Guthrie, a
UCLA Department of Anthropology graduate student. They were received by
the Fowler Museum at UCLA prior to October 1953 and comprise Accession
82. Treatment history of these items is unknown. In consultation with
the Tejon Indian Tribe, these items were identified as culturally
affiliated with the Tribe and were removed from their ancestral
territory.
The one lot of objects of cultural patrimony is a sandstone mortar
fragment. This cultural item was removed from the surface near Pleito
Creek in Kern County, CA. The exact collection date and collector are
unknown, but the item was likely collected prior to 1952 and received
by the Fowler Museum at UCLA prior to October 1953, comprising
Accession 88. Treatment history of the item is unknown. In consultation
with the Tejon Indian Tribe, this item was identified as culturally
affiliated with the Tribe and was removed from one of the most
important locations within their ancestral territory.
The three lots of objects of cultural patrimony are ceramic sherds,
a projectile point, and a china fragment. These cultural items were
removed from the surface of CA-KER-197, located in the Sage Springs/
Sage Canyon area of Kern County, CA, in October 1953 by Clement W.
Meighan. The cultural items removed from this site were received by the
Fowler Museum at UCLA in October 1953 and comprise Accession 109.
Treatment history of these items is unknown. In consultation with the
Tejon Indian Tribe, these items were identified as culturally
affiliated with the Tribe and were removed from their ancestral
territory.
The seven lots of objects of cultural patrimony are ceramic sherds,
lithic flakes, and a leaf-shaped point. These cultural items were
removed from the surface of a site in the vicinity of Phillips Ranch in
Sand Canyon, Kern County, CA (likely CA-KER-769), in October 1955 by
E.V. Winans and M. Kowta. They were received by the Fowler Museum at
UCLA on January 19, 1956, and comprise Accession 127. Treatment history
of these items is unknown. In consultation with the Tejon Indian Tribe,
these items were identified as culturally affiliated with the Tribe and
were removed from their ancestral territory near one of the most well-
known and protected Indigenous state parks, Tomo-Kahni.
The two lots of objects of cultural patrimony are a ceramic sherd
and a flake scraper. These cultural items were removed from the surface
of CA-KER-199, located in Kern County, CA, on April 30, 1954, by Frank
Davis. They were received by the Fowler Museum at UCLA on May 26, 1955,
and comprise Accession 149. Treatment history of these items is
unknown. In consultation with the Tejon Indian Tribe, these items were
identified as culturally affiliated with the Tribe and were removed
from their ancestral territory.
The 43 lots of objects of cultural patrimony are chipped stone
artifacts, groundstone artifacts, lithic flakes, faunal bone, stone
fragments, glass fragments, a china fragment, metal fragments, shell
fragments, charcoal fragments, seeds, and organic fragments. These
cultural items were removed during test excavations at CA-KER-312,
located near Cyprus Creek in Kern County, CA, in 1973 by Jon Ericson.
They were received by the Fowler Museum at UCLA on August 8, 1973, and
comprise Accession 194. Treatment history of these items is unknown. In
consultation with the Tejon Indian Tribe, these items were identified
as culturally affiliated with the Tribe and were removed from a well-
known village site within their ancestral territory.
The 60 lots of unassociated funerary objects are ceramic sherds,
chipped stone artifacts, groundstone artifacts, worked lithic flakes,
lithic flakes, faunal bone, an iron rail spike, a polished stone
pebble, and granite pitted stones. These cultural items were removed
from various locations in the Upper Kern River area of Kern County, CA,
including CA-KER-41, Goat Canyon/Goat Canyon Ranch, Scovern Hot
Springs/Kern River Drainage, Lake Isabella area/So. Fork Drainage,
Erskine Creek Ranch, and other unknown locations (likely also Erskine
Creek Ranch). These items were collected circa 1963 (possibly by
Archaeological Survey staff) and were donated by Dorothy Griffin (Los
Angeles City College). They were received by the Fowler Museum at UCLA
prior to November 1968 and comprise Accession 546. Treatment history of
these items is unknown. In consultation with the Tejon Indian Tribe,
these items were identified as culturally affiliated with the Tribe and
were removed from locations within their ancestral territory that are
associated with a known burial site, CA-KER-41. During consultations in
2025, the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Yokut Tribe also identified these
items as having been removed from locations within Tachi Yokut
territory.
The 20 lots of objects of cultural patrimony are lithic flakes,
retouched flakes, chipped stone artifacts, and a glass trade bead.
These cultural items were removed from the surface of various sites in
Horse Canyon, Kern County, CA, including CA-KER-268, CA-KER-269, CA-
KER-270, CA-KER-271, and CA-KER-272. They were collected in September
1969 by Sam Mayhew and Gary Stickel and were received by the Fowler
Museum at UCLA on September 16, 1969, forming Accession 561. Treatment
history of these items is unknown. In consultation with the Tejon
Indian Tribe, these items were identified as culturally affiliated with
the Tribe and were removed from a well-known Indigenous travel route in
an area with a high concentration of sites within their ancestral
territory.
The nine lots of objects of cultural patrimony are chipped stone
artifacts. These cultural items were removed from the surface of
various sites in Kern County, CA, including CA-KER-15 and others with
unknown trinomials. They were collected on various dates from 1964 to
1969 by Alex Apostolides and were received by the Fowler Museum at UCLA
on April 24, 1978, forming a portion of Accession 586. The remainder of
Accession 586 is under the legal control of one or more Federal
agencies and is not reflected in this notice. Treatment history of
these items is unknown. In consultation with the Tejon Indian Tribe,
these items were identified as culturally affiliated with the Tribe and
were removed from well-known village sites near Lake Isabella in their
ancestral territory.
The 32 lots of objects of cultural patrimony are lithic flakes and
shatter, utilized flakes, ceramic sherds, chipped stone artifacts, and
groundstone artifacts. These cultural items were removed from the
surface of various sites in Kern County, CA, including CA-KER-1, CA-
KER-1682, CA-KER-15, and CA-KER-690. They were collected in December
1983 by Brian Dillon and were received by the Fowler Museum at UCLA on
October 9, 1984, forming a portion of Accession 661. The remainder of
Accession 661 is under the legal control of one or more Federal
agencies and is not reflected in this notice. Treatment history of
these items is unknown. In consultation with the Tejon Indian Tribe,
these items were identified as culturally affiliated with the Tribe and
were removed from sites within their ancestral territory.
The one lot of objects of cultural patrimony includes miscellaneous
fragments of reeds, cut twigs or possible arrow shafts, shells, and
basketry. These cultural items were found in the museum's collections
in April 1977 and given accession number X77.23. A note
[[Page 8512]]
on the original packaging material stated that these items were removed
from a test pit in a rock shelter in Pleito Canyon, CA, on December 2,
1962. It is unclear when the items originally arrived at the Fowler
Museum at UCLA. Treatment history of these items is unknown. In
consultation with the Tejon Indian Tribe, these items were identified
as culturally affiliated with the Tribe and were removed from one of
the most important locations within their ancestral territory.
Determinations
The Fowler Museum at UCLA has determined that:
<bullet> The 60 lots of 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 156 lots of 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 connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Tejon Indian Tribe.
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 March 25, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Fowler Museum at UCLA 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 Fowler Museum at UCLA 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: February 13, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-03558 Filed 2-20-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 23, 2026.
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