NPS Repatriates 40 Cultural Items to Chumash Indians

Notice

Notice of Intended Repatriation: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, CA

A Notice by the National Park Service on 04/09/2026

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• Public Inspection Published Document: 2026-06815 (91 FR 17992) Document Headings ###### Department of the Interior

National Park Service

1. [N7055; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042552; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Channel Islands National Park (CHIS) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribe in this notice.

DATES:

Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on or after May 11, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to Ethan McKinly, Superintendent, Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, CA 93001, email ethan_mckinley@nps.gov.

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 Superintendent, CHIS and additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records.

Abstract of Information Available

A total of 40 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. The 40 unassociated funerary objects are two stone scrapers, two stone bowls, one stone biface, one stone pestle, 18 shell ornaments, one bone bead, eight shell beads, one bone tool, one stone plummet, one digging stick weight, one lot of black seeds, one shell fragment, and two fishhook blanks. In the 1870's Stephen Bowers and William George Willoughby were actively collecting and excavating burials on the Channel Islands located off the coast of California. Items from Bowers and Willoughby's collections were initially housed at the Smithsonian Institution in the late 1870's and later transferred to Wesleyan University's Natural History Museum. Cultural affiliation was determined based on the following types of information: anthropological, archeological, geographic, historical, oral tradition, and Native American traditional knowledge. The presence of any potentially hazardous substances on these cultural items is unknown.

Determinations

CHIS has determined that:

• The 40 unassociated funerary objects described above are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of an individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
• There is a reasonable connection between the cultural items described in this notice and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 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 May 11, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, CHIS 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. CHIS is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes 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: April 1, 2026.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2026-06815 Filed 4-8-26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4312-52-P

Published Document: 2026-06815 (91 FR 17992)