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:

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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]
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Laura Bauer   [log in to unmask]
Assistant Curator of Exhibits
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
(805) 682-4711 x324

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