Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA, 77003-77004 [2015-31308]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 238 (Friday, December 11, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77003-77004]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31308]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-19755; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: Los Angeles 
County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, has determined that 
the cultural item listed in this notice meets the definitions of sacred 
object and object of cultural patrimony. Lineal descendants or 
representatives of any Indian tribe not identified in this notice that 
wish to claim this cultural item should submit a written request to the 
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. If no additional 
claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural item to the 
lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations 
stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe not 
identified in this notice that wish to claim the cultural item should 
submit a written request with information in support of the claim to 
the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Foundation at the 
address in this notice by January 11, 2016.

ADDRESSES: James R. Gilson, Vice President and General Counsel, Los 
Angeles County Museum of Natural History Foundation, 900 Exposition 
Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, telephone (213) 763-3305, email 
jgilson@nhm.org.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005 of the intent to repatriate a cultural item under the 
control of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History that meets 
the definitions of a sacred object and of an object of cultural 
patrimony under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American cultural item. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item

    Between 1895 and 1915, a headdress made from cotton cord, red 
woolen fabric, and feathers came into the possession of Francis (Frank) 
Ammann, Sr., who was a baker and operated a dry goods store in Needles, 
CA. Upon his death, the headdress passed to his son, Dr. F.X. Amman, 
Jr., who donated the headdress to the Los Angeles County Museum of 
Natural History in 1934. In 2002, the Los Angeles County Museum of 
Natural History lent the headdress to the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of 
Mission Indians of California for exhibition, where it remains today.
    Based on research and consultation with the Twenty-Nine Palms Band 
of Mission Indians of California, and other Chemehuevi elders and 
scholars of Chemehuevi culture and history, the Los Angeles County 
Museum of Natural

[[Page 77004]]

History has determined that the headdress is possibly the most complete 
example currently known of a Kaitcoxo. Kaitcoxo headdresses are 
important objects worn in Chemehuevi traditional religious and tribal 
ceremonies. The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History also has 
determined that, in accordance with traditional Chemehuevi practice, an 
object of this importance to the group as a whole could not have been 
alienated by any individual. The research also leads the Los Angeles 
County Museum of Natural History to believe that a preponderance of the 
evidence indicates that this Kaitcoxo came into the hands of Mr. Amman, 
Sr., from one or more Chemehuevi persons, who were trading with Mr. 
Amman, Sr., between 1895 and 1915 while he was operating his bakery and 
store in Needles, CA. For the Chemehuevi people, this was a period of 
dislocation, successive moves, and removal to reservations.
    The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History's consultations 
included communication with the three Federally-recognized Chemehuevi 
tribes: Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation, 
California; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona and California; and Twenty-Nine Palms Band of 
Mission Indians of California. On July 31, 2015, the Los Angeles County 
Museum of Natural History received a letter dated March 31, 2015, and 
signed by the tribal chairmen of all three Federally-recognized 
Chemehuevi tribes stating the three tribes ``without exception, enter 
into this agreement with full consensus, that it is our stated and 
formal request that the Chemehuevi Headdress . . . be repatriated . . . 
to the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.''

Determinations Made by the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History

    Officials of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(C), the single Kaitcoxo 
described above is a specific ceremonial object needed by traditional 
Native American religious leaders for the practice of traditional 
Native American religions by their present-day adherents.
     In addition, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), the single 
Kaitcoxo described above has ongoing historical, traditional, or 
cultural importance central to the Native American group or culture 
itself, rather than property owned by an individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the single 
Kaitcoxo and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of 
California.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe not 
identified in this notice that wish to claim this cultural item should 
submit a written request with information in support of the claim to 
James R. Gilson, Vice President and General Counsel, Los Angeles County 
Museum of Natural History Foundation, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los 
Angeles, CA 90007, telephone (213) 763-3305, email jgilson@nhm.org, by 
January 11, 2016. After that date, if no additional claimants have come 
forward, transfer of control of the single Kaitcoxo to the Twenty-Nine 
Palms Band of Mission Indians of California may proceed.
    The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History is responsible for 
notifying the following Federally-recognized tribes that this notice 
has been published: Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi 
Reservation, California; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado 
River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California; and the Twenty-Nine 
Palms Band of Mission Indians of California.

    Dated: November 6, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-31308 Filed 12-10-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P