Native tribe lays claim to Wal-Mart skull

Native tribe lays claim to Wal-Mart skull
By DAVID J. COEHRS | Wednesday September 03 2008, 1:02am

PERKINS TWP.

Regional members of the Wyandot Indian tribe want the final say in where a recently discovered Native American skull is laid to rest.

Tri-state Grand Chief Steve Gronda plans to contact Erie County Coroner Brian Baxter about gaining custody of the 200-year-old remains, found Aug. 19 behind the Perkins Township Wal-Mart.

He plans to have them interred at a Native American burial site in Danbury.

Gronda said he intends to lay the skull to rest in sacred ground.

"To not acknowledge that there are Native American burials at hand, that would be bad if they didn't work with us," Gronda said. "We can work together to make sure she gets into a good place with other Indians."

Baxter did not return calls for comment.

Three re-burials have already taken place at the Danbury site, which federal and state governments recognize as Native American ground. Gronda said if the county didn't agree to turn over the remains, he is certain there would be "a very, very loud voice" protesting the decision.

The remains would receive a traditional Indian burial with an offering of prayers and the "three sisters" of the earth -- corn, beans and squash. The food sustains native people in life and will sustain them in death, Piqua-Shawnee Nation Elder Barbara Layman said.

Known by her native name, "Red Heart," Layman said it's important to bury the skull at the Danbury site, rather than in a pauper's grave.

"This would be a very respectful way to re-inter the remains," she said.

"They would be safe in perpetuity because that ground is designated as sacred. The spirit will not be at rest until it's interred in sacred ground."

Sandusky resident Ken Tuttle, a one-third Cherokee Indian given the name "Thunder Child," said it's only fitting to bury the skull in sacred ground.

"It's all about honor and human respect," he said. "I would have loved to have met that girl and learned even half of what she knew."

Two weeks ago, Lucas County forensic anthropologist Julie Saul determined the skull probably belonged to a Native American woman. She estimated the remains were two or more centuries old.

The skull was found under a tree in an auxiliary parking lot behind Wal-Mart's garden center. The store maintenance man who found it at first mistook it for a Halloween prop.

The Criminal Bureau of Investigation sent it to Lucas County Coroner James R. Patrick for forensic examination.

A spokesperson for the Ohio Historic Preservation Office said the skull could have been abandoned by someone who was keeping it as a souvenir. He said it did not necessarily come from the area where it was found.

The young woman may have belonged to the Erie, Shawnee or Wyandot tribe, all of which frequented Erie County.

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