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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA

On September 6, 2018, the Office of Research at the University of California received a request
for a brief report on NAGRPA related activities, with a deadline of two business days. UCSB’s
archaeological collections that are subject to NAGPRA legislation are maintained in the
Repository for Archaeological and Ethnographic Collections (housed within the Department of
Anthropology), for which Dr. VanDerwarker is currently the Interim Curator. VanDerwarker
stepped into this post upon the retirement of Dr. Lynn Gamble on June 30, 2018, as negotiations
are ongoing in the recruitment of the new faculty member who will become Curator of this
facility. In addition, UCSB’s Repository is closed during the summer (June 25-September 21),
and the Assistant Curator (post held by graduate student) who oversees the daily operations only
works on a 9-month basis throughout the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. Given these
constraints and VanDerwarker’s lack of familiarity with the collections, the details in the
summary that follows should be considered close approximations. Fortunately, VanDerwarker
was able to meet briefly with the Assistant Curator in person, and via email, with Professor
Emerita Lynn Gamble. The information that follows is summarized from these discussions, as
well as from UCSB’s 2012 NAGPRA Notice of Inventory Completion (NIC) which is available
online and represents an official government document.

At present, The UCSB Repository curates 46 accessions that are subject to federal NAGPRA
regulation (human remains and associated funerary objects). All of these accessions are
geographically from California and originate from the broader Chumash cultural region. These
accessions encompass 408 individuals (human remains) and 3,985 associated funerary objects.
Of the human remains, 395 individuals have been culturally affiliated with the Chumash; all of
the associated funerary objects are also culturally Chumash as well. Less than one percent of the
human remains and associated funerary objects are unaffiliated, and these represent 13
individuals from a single accession (Accession #245); these individuals are most likely
Chumash, and we are at the stage where we are ready to consult with the tribe, after which we
will be ready to submit our Notice of Inventory Completion (NIC) to the UC NAGPRA
committee for review, followed by submission to the National Park Service (NPS). It is
important to note that the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash is the only federally recognized tribe in
this region.

The Santa Ynez Chumash have been provided summaries of our NAGPRA-related materials,
with the exception of the above-mentioned accession that encompasses the remains of 13
individuals. UCSB and the Santa Ynez Chumash have a cooperative agreement for UCSB to
house and maintain these collections at the Repository, in a space that has been blessed by the
Chumash, a blessing which is renewed periodically when members of the Band visit the
collections. Thus, none of these materials have been physically transferred to the tribe. In
addition to the Santa Ynez Band, there are three other Native groups in the region that are
Chumash: the Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians (BBCI), the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of
Mission Indians, and the Northern Chumash Band (Obispeño). These three groups are the only
non-federally recognized tribes in the region that require documentation for membership. With