Regarding an earlier message about the repository of Chumash Indian remains at our museum (the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History), I just wanted to clarify our situation. The following is a message from our Curator of Anthropology, Dr. John Johnson: ------------------------------------------------------- Here is a brief discription of our situation. At the request of our California Indian Advisory Committee, we have a small separate room off of our main museum collection storage area that is used for human osteological material. The remains from each individual are wrapped in acid-free tissue and stored carefully in acid free boxes. We work with a California Indian Advisory Committee that includes representatives from all major Chumash communities. We meet regularly four times a year and consult on a variety of issues pertaining to policies, collections, publications, public programs, and exhibits. We also maintain an active research program pertaining to Chumash studies, including ethnohistory, genealogies, and oral history. I recently co-authored a two volume report under contract to the Applied Ethnography Program for the National Park Service called "Cultural Affiliation and Lineal Descent of Chumash Peoples" that showed how ethnohistoric research could establish the "shared group identity" with the "identifiable earlier groups" that NAGPRA specifies. Eight different Chumash Indians worked as research assistants on this project. By working cooperatively on a variety of issues, we have been able to do so with regard to NAGPRA implementation as well -- thus far, that is. There seem to be elements in any Native American community that are anti-anthropology, and the Chumash communities have some who are inclined this way as well, although not a majority. We have tried to build positive relationships and at the same time make a case that the collections at our museum are of potential benefit for preserving and understanding the long term history of Chumash peoples. John Johnson, Ph.D. Curator of Anthropology Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History 2559 Puesta del Sol Santa Barbara, CA 93105-2998 (805) 682-4711 (Ext. 306) FAX (805) 569-3170 www.sbnature.org email: [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------------------------------- Laura Bauer [log in to unmask] Assistant Curator of Exhibits Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (805) 682-4711 x324 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).