Park Forest man's box of bones held remains of middle-aged Native American

Park Forest man's box of bones held remains of middle-aged Native American
September 25, 2008

In death, there is silence - cold, uncompromised quiet. But the secrets locked inside John Ray's box of bones are starting to talk.

The bones, which for years had been stored in a Park Forest basement, belonged to a Native American between the ages of 30 and 50 who walked the earth more than 100 years ago, according to the findings of an Indianapolis forensics lab.

The University of Indianapolis Archeology and Forensics Laboratory report released earlier this week also indicates the Native American died of natural causes.

Ray said the box of human remains has been sitting in his basement since 1982. He said he bought the bones, albeit accidentally, at an estate auction in Shipshewana, Ind., that year.

He said he purchased a tattered 150-year-old book titled "The History of the American Indian." Packaged with the book was a cardboard box containing bones.

This summer, Ray said he wanted to determine the origin of the bones. He said he wanted them to have a proper burial.

The LaGrange County Sheriff's Department in Indiana arranged for Ray to ship the bones to the forensics laboratory, where 65 bones were analyzed by anthropologist Stephen P. Nawrocki.

An analysis of cranial measurements confirmed the bones belonged to a Native American. While the sex of the skeleton is unknown, the person's age was between 30 and 50, based on dental wear and cranial suture closure, according to the report. The person, who was estimated at 5 feet 3 inches tall, likely died of natural causes, Nawrocki determined.

The bones possibly were deposited in a protected, above-ground environment such as a cave, a rock shelter or a mausoleum crypt as evidenced by the rodent-gnaw marks on rib and pelvic bones, according to the findings.

The report concludes the bones possibly were removed from a historical Native American burial site.

In light of that information, the bones fall under the jurisdiction of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which mandates a process for returning Native American remains and cultural items to lineal descendants and affiliated tribes.

Sherry Hutt, a manager of the federal program, said the Indiana Department of Natural Resources must add the bones to the inventory of Native American remains within two years.

"What the state needs to do is determine the cultural affiliation of the remains," Hutt said. "Because if they determine a tribe, the tribe can make a request for the bones."

If Indiana officials cannot determine a tribe, state officials then will confer with area tribes who might want to bury the bones.

"They can't stay in a box because that's not how society treats human remains," Hutt said.

Ray was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

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