Developers have to avoid burial grounds

Developers have to avoid burial grounds (10/15/2008)
By Sarah Elmquist

Winona may be treading lightly when it comes to bluff development, this time not to protect the visual beauty of the hillsides, but to preserve something that usually can’t be seen at all.

Native American burial grounds, fitted into bluffsides and along ridgelines, are being considered as part of the city’s draft bluff protection ordinance. Although they’ve been farmed or built over in the past, some changes to the way that Winona allows areas near bluffs to be developed could help ensure that future building projects leave the area’s native ancestors at peace.

The Planning Commission met with local representatives of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance to discuss a request that the city address native burial grounds within its pending bluff ordinance.

John Borman, secretary of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance (WDUA), said that Minnesota and federal laws prohibit the disturbance of grave sites, and that they hold the landowner accountable for such disturbance. He said that having a system in place to identify potential burial grounds would protect not only the graves, but also the property owner from litigation.

And Borman said that the point of the WDUA was just that -- to avoid confrontation while facilitating reconciliation. The group was formed to help foster positive relationships between current Winona residents and the Dakota people who inhabited the land years ago.

One option to identify and protect native burial sites was to conduct a Phase 1 archeological survey on lands near bluffs slated for development, which was done for the Applewood Pointe development in East Burns Valley. Such a study will also be required for developments within land planned to be annexed from Wilson Township, a provision called for in a recent comprehensive environmental development study.

But exactly what areas would require such a study, or what would trigger the study hasn’t been decided. City Planner Mark Moeller said that perhaps any land which a “bluff line” ran through would need a study done during the platting process. It’s unclear how many developments that might actually affect given the proposed development setbacks from blufftops, but the issue will be explored further as the city studies the draft ordinance.

Exactly where Native American burial sites might be was discussed briefly during the meeting to give a basis for where the city ought to look at protection. Borman said that native people chose burial sites for some of the same reasons that people build homes along the bluff lines -- for the view. He said that burial mounds have also been found along the sides of bluffs and at the bottoms of bluffs, as well as terrace-like areas along the way.

A Phase 1 archeological study would help determine the likelihood of native remains at a location. It includes a process from studying aerial photos to actual shovel tests and can determine whether further study is needed to ensure burial sites aren’t present.

Borman said that he and the Native American leaders he’d spoken with would rather that, if a Phase 1 study showed any sign of possible remains, the state archeologist were called to make a final determination. Moeller suggested that a Phase 2 study could suffice, but no decision was made on what the final process might include.

Commissioners seemed to agree that some sort of system should be in place to help avoid grave disturbance and agreed to discuss the issue as the proposed ordinance unfolds.

Todd Paddock, local bluff protection advocate who attended the meeting, said it’s time for the city to walk the walk when it comes to respecting and protecting Native American burial mounds. “[Burial sites] are everywhere, and that’s a problem,” he said. “I understand the practicalities; we have to think of cost. But think of the cost of disrespecting the people who came before us.”

The cost of archeological studies would be the responsibility of developers, at least for Phase 1. But Borman said that the good news was in the law books -- that the state of Minnesota would step in if further study was needed beyond Phase 1. He said that the state had provisions within the statute which would pay for further study, and even possible land acquisition for preservation if remains are found.

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