Notice2026-11240
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 4, 2026
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, 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 107 (Thursday, June 4, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33742-33743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11240]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7201; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042933; 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, 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 July 6, 2026.
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#4a2b2d3f392329210a2422276425382d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2d4c4a585e444e466d43454003425f4a">[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 23 cultural items have been requested for repatriation,
including one unassociated funerary object and 22 objects of cultural
patrimony.
The one unassociated funerary object is an urn removed from the
Cajon Pass area of San Bernardino County in 1955 by Ike Stoddard, who
described it as, ``Plainware olla, formerly held a skeleton''. The urn
was donated to LACMNH by Ted Stoddard in 1956.
A total of 12 objects of cultural patrimony include lots of worked
steatite, asphaltum, shell, faunal remains, floral remains, worked
lithics, one tarring pebble, one incised tablet, one striated stone,
one stone weight and two perforated stones. These items were removed
from the Nestor Young Ranch at Barrel Springs, located near Palmdale in
Los Angeles County. Nestor Young owned the ranch from 1913 to 1921 and
conducted excavations in the vicinity. Sometime between 1947 and 1948,
Young sold his collection to the Hancock Foundation Anthropology Lab, a
now disbanded museum once part of the University of Southern
California. In 1966, the Hancock Foundation Anthropology Lab collection
was loaned to LACMNH and then in 1983 the collection was transferred as
a gift to LACMNH.
A total of five objects of cultural patrimony are pestles,
projectile points, and ocher. These items were removed from Lovejoy
Springs and Anaverde in the Antelope Valley region of Los Angeles
County by Carl D. Hegner. They
[[Page 33743]]
were donated to LACMNH by the Native Daughters of the Golden West,
Tijera Parlor Chapter in 1971.
A total of four objects of cultural patrimony are a wooden tool
fragment, twined bag fragment, twined basket fragments, and a large
incomplete coiled basket broken into pieces. They were removed in 1920
by Frank Mitchell from a cave at Vasquez Rocks, Los Angeles County, and
donated to LACMNH by John Dewar in 1973.
A total of one object of cultural patrimony is a mortar removed
from Lytle Creek Wash, San Bernardino County, in 1938 by Charles A.
Smith and donated to LACMNH in 1972.
Determinations
The LACMNH has determined that:
<bullet> The one unassociated funerary object described in this
notice is 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 object has 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 22 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 Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation (previously
listed as San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, 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 6, 2026. 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 29, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-11240 Filed 6-3-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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