YouTube video leads to graverobber's arrest
Jessie Faulkner/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 12/20/2008 01:33:45 AM PST
The discerning eye of a federal Bureau of Land Management employee and
the investigative skills of Patrick's Point State Park (CA) Ranger
Greg Hall led to the arrest of a Eureka man this week on suspicion of
looting archaeological items from an ancient tribal village site.
At the center of the investigation was a video the suspect created and
subsequently posted on YouTube showing him digging at the village site
within Patrick's Point State Park.
"It was a bragging video," Hall said.
With a search warrant for YouTube, Hall was able to determine the
location of the computer used to upload the video and able to identify
the suspect by looking at other videos he had posted, since his face
was not readily visible in the looting film.
Hall said he then contacted the property management company who
handled the suspect's rental, and was able to obtain his cellular
phone number and convince the suspect to come in for questioning.
With another search warrant, state park rangers had searched the
suspect's Eureka home earlier in the day and found several artifacts
from the North Coast and other areas.
Hall subsequently arrested James Edward Truhls, 30, on suspicion of
removing artifacts from a burial ground, disturbing or removing
archaeological features, possession of stolen property and disturbing
artifacts -- two misdemeanor counts and two felony counts. Truhls
posted bail the same day and is scheduled for arraignment on Dec. 31.
"This case is significant," North Coast Redwoods District
archaeologist Greg Collins said, "because we were able to catch the
culprit."
The looting of sacred sites is common, but it's often difficult to
make arrests. Many, like the suspect, are private collectors. Several
of the comments made on Truhls' YouTube video praised his desecration
of the site.
For the Yurok Tribe, it's a crime that is considered one of the most
offensive committed against ancestors.
"These items likely came from Yurok burial grounds and removing them
from this sacred place is disrespectful and a violation of Yurok
traditional law, as well as state and federal law," Tribal Chairwoman
Maria Tripp said in a prepared announcement.
Frank Lara, a member of the Yurok Tribe's Repatriation Committee,
described the spiritual aspect of removing tools from a grave site.
Say, he said, there's a crippled man whose job it is to make regalia,
a responsibility that requires specific tools. When he dies, Lara
said, he is buried with his tools so he may continue his work in the
afterlife. Without the tools -- such as when a looter steals them --
the spirit wanders and doesn't belong anywhere.
"This area has a great deal of cultural relevance to Yuroks," Yurok
Tribe Repatriation Committee Chairman Gene Brundin said.
Brundin expressed the tribe's appreciation to State Parks, Trinidad
Police Department and the Bureau of Land Management, who cooperated in
the investigation.
Brundin said while it gives the Yurok people great satisfaction to be
able to return the stolen items to their resting place, it's with
great sadness that it has to be done in the first place.
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_11277958
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
2009 Tribal NPS Grant
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 authorizes grants to Federally recognized Indian tribes for cultural and historic preservation projects. These grants assist Indian Tribes, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiian Organizations in protecting and promoting their unique cultural heritage and traditions.
From the beginning, the program has been shaped by Indian tribes. It focuses on what they are most concerned with protecting - Native language, oral history, plant and animal species important in tradition, sacred and historic places, and the establishment of tribal historic preservation offices.
Since 1990, more than $17 million has been awarded to over 460 Indian and Alaskan Native communities.
Application materials for the 2009 grants are now available.
Deadline is Friday, January 30, 2009
Grant details and the application can be found at the following link:
http://www.nps.gov:80/history/hps/HPG/Tribal/index.htm
From the beginning, the program has been shaped by Indian tribes. It focuses on what they are most concerned with protecting - Native language, oral history, plant and animal species important in tradition, sacred and historic places, and the establishment of tribal historic preservation offices.
Since 1990, more than $17 million has been awarded to over 460 Indian and Alaskan Native communities.
Application materials for the 2009 grants are now available.
Deadline is Friday, January 30, 2009
Grant details and the application can be found at the following link:
http://www.nps.gov:80/history/hps/HPG/Tribal/index.htm
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Black Friday brings Shellmound protest
Black Friday brings Shellmound protest
Black Friday brings Shellmound protest
By Shadi Rahimi, Today correspondent
Story Published: Dec 12, 2008
EMERYVILLE, Calif. – Hardcore shoppers woke up at dawn and hit the stores soon after, following the call of TV and radio advertisements instructing them to “Buy now, pay later.”
In a parking lot of the Bay Street Mall, a man drove away from Circuit City with a new 64-inch HD TV in his truck bed. The Shoe Pavilion next door declared it was “Going Out of Business.” Other windows were decked for Christmas. It was Black Friday. A day for shopping. And protest.
Just before noon, about 40 Shellmound walkers arrived at the outdoor mega-mall constructed to resemble a quaint Main Street, albeit with many parking lots and several levels and big box stores. For the past four years, this group of Natives and non-Natives has been walking several miles at a time the week leading up to Black Friday to draw attention to the desecration of sacred sites.
Their ending point has always been here – the site of the former Emeryville Shellmound, a mound of shellfish and animal remains, bone tools and other artifacts, human remains and earth that over centuries of inhabitance by the Muwekma Ohlone had grown to 40-feet high and 350-feet wide.
A steady stream of cars drove by as the walkers waved signs that read, “This Sacred Site is Older Than Pyramids,” “You Are Shopping on Burial Ground,” and “I Just Found Oakland, Can I Keep It?”
Some cars honked in support. Others turned to drive into the mall.
The Emeryville Shellmound was leveled for an amusement park in 1876, then a highly polluting industrial plant in 1924, and was finally excavated in 1999 to build the shopping mall. The 2,500 ancestral bones found on the site were handed over to scientists at U.C.-Berkeley, UCLA, Sonoma State University and Humboldt State University, according to the city’s Redevelopment Agency.
More than 12,000 California tribal remains are already housed at U.C.-Berkeley. Despite protests and support from legislators, a majority of the collection has yet to be returned under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
Buddhist monks planned a fast in protest of the University’s possession of tribal remains from Dec. 1 to Dec. 4, and sat in prayer in front of the Hearst Museum of Anthropology.
On the Friday after the holiday known as Thanksgiving, four of the monks sat on the ground at the corner of Ohlone Way and Shellmound Street, named as a kind of peace offering to Natives who wanted the Shellmound site to be commemorated and recognized, “like the pyramids in Egypt,” said Miwok activist Wounded Knee DeCampo.
The Buddhist monks chanted in prayer and pounded drums. Behind them, protestors handed informational flyers to shoppers.
“This is a peaceful protest,” Muwekma Ohlone and Yokut organizer Corrina Gould reminded a circle of walkers. “We are not here to be screaming at people. We are here to educate, and get it out in a good spirit that we do not want people to be shopping at this mall.”
Some shoppers were surprised to hear of the site’s history. “I had no idea!” a mother exclaimed as she shared a flyer with her teenage daughter.
Another woman was not pleased to pass the protest on her way to shop. “I have not one bit of guilt,” she announced loudly to her male companion as they breezed past.
Just being a presence is important, said Cheyenne Gould, 18, who is Muwekma Ohlone and Yokut on her mother’s side and Cheyenne, Arapaho and Choctaw on her father’s.
“The power around me right now, it’s really strong, and it helps me cope with it; it does hurt that my ancestors are still here and there’s concrete and people shopping here – it’s disturbing,” she said. “You tell people and they’re like, ‘Really?’ Some have told me, ‘I’m never gonna shop here.’”
Many of the 425 shellmounds across the Bay Area have been razed and paved over, her mother told the walkers, including the Glen Cove Shellmound in Vallejo where homes and condo’s now stand. That is where DeCampo began his walk this year.
“Everything takes time,” he said. “But it’s gonna change because people are gonna start listening to Indigenous people. We tell them, ‘What if it was your cemetery?’”
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/36061884.html
Black Friday brings Shellmound protest
By Shadi Rahimi, Today correspondent
Story Published: Dec 12, 2008
EMERYVILLE, Calif. – Hardcore shoppers woke up at dawn and hit the stores soon after, following the call of TV and radio advertisements instructing them to “Buy now, pay later.”
In a parking lot of the Bay Street Mall, a man drove away from Circuit City with a new 64-inch HD TV in his truck bed. The Shoe Pavilion next door declared it was “Going Out of Business.” Other windows were decked for Christmas. It was Black Friday. A day for shopping. And protest.
Just before noon, about 40 Shellmound walkers arrived at the outdoor mega-mall constructed to resemble a quaint Main Street, albeit with many parking lots and several levels and big box stores. For the past four years, this group of Natives and non-Natives has been walking several miles at a time the week leading up to Black Friday to draw attention to the desecration of sacred sites.
Their ending point has always been here – the site of the former Emeryville Shellmound, a mound of shellfish and animal remains, bone tools and other artifacts, human remains and earth that over centuries of inhabitance by the Muwekma Ohlone had grown to 40-feet high and 350-feet wide.
A steady stream of cars drove by as the walkers waved signs that read, “This Sacred Site is Older Than Pyramids,” “You Are Shopping on Burial Ground,” and “I Just Found Oakland, Can I Keep It?”
Some cars honked in support. Others turned to drive into the mall.
The Emeryville Shellmound was leveled for an amusement park in 1876, then a highly polluting industrial plant in 1924, and was finally excavated in 1999 to build the shopping mall. The 2,500 ancestral bones found on the site were handed over to scientists at U.C.-Berkeley, UCLA, Sonoma State University and Humboldt State University, according to the city’s Redevelopment Agency.
More than 12,000 California tribal remains are already housed at U.C.-Berkeley. Despite protests and support from legislators, a majority of the collection has yet to be returned under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
Buddhist monks planned a fast in protest of the University’s possession of tribal remains from Dec. 1 to Dec. 4, and sat in prayer in front of the Hearst Museum of Anthropology.
On the Friday after the holiday known as Thanksgiving, four of the monks sat on the ground at the corner of Ohlone Way and Shellmound Street, named as a kind of peace offering to Natives who wanted the Shellmound site to be commemorated and recognized, “like the pyramids in Egypt,” said Miwok activist Wounded Knee DeCampo.
The Buddhist monks chanted in prayer and pounded drums. Behind them, protestors handed informational flyers to shoppers.
“This is a peaceful protest,” Muwekma Ohlone and Yokut organizer Corrina Gould reminded a circle of walkers. “We are not here to be screaming at people. We are here to educate, and get it out in a good spirit that we do not want people to be shopping at this mall.”
Some shoppers were surprised to hear of the site’s history. “I had no idea!” a mother exclaimed as she shared a flyer with her teenage daughter.
Another woman was not pleased to pass the protest on her way to shop. “I have not one bit of guilt,” she announced loudly to her male companion as they breezed past.
Just being a presence is important, said Cheyenne Gould, 18, who is Muwekma Ohlone and Yokut on her mother’s side and Cheyenne, Arapaho and Choctaw on her father’s.
“The power around me right now, it’s really strong, and it helps me cope with it; it does hurt that my ancestors are still here and there’s concrete and people shopping here – it’s disturbing,” she said. “You tell people and they’re like, ‘Really?’ Some have told me, ‘I’m never gonna shop here.’”
Many of the 425 shellmounds across the Bay Area have been razed and paved over, her mother told the walkers, including the Glen Cove Shellmound in Vallejo where homes and condo’s now stand. That is where DeCampo began his walk this year.
“Everything takes time,” he said. “But it’s gonna change because people are gonna start listening to Indigenous people. We tell them, ‘What if it was your cemetery?’”
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/36061884.html
Secretary Kempthorne Presents First Annual Secretarial Historic Preservation Awards
Secretary Kempthorne Presents First Annual Secretarial Historic Preservation Awards
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today presented the first annual Secretary of the Interior Historic Preservation Awards to four government and tribal employees at the department’s Washington headquarters.
“These awards are the equivalent of an Emmy award in the field of historic preservation,” Secretary Kempthorne said at the ceremony in his office. “The ingenuity and dedication of these individuals are inspiring. The first-ever winners include Deborah Corbett, a Fish and Wildlife Service archeologist covering a territory of 78 million often-frozen acres in Alaska; Kelly Jackson, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Lac du Flambeau band in Wisconsin; William Morgan, a consensus builder who staffs the Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission in Muncie, Indiana; and Calder Loth, Senior Architectural Historian for the state of Virginia.”
The Secretary of the Interior historic preservation annual award program was created to recognize the outstanding contributions of the employees of Federal, State, and Tribal Preservation Offices and Certified Local Governments in the area of historic preservation.
Secretary Kempthorne established the award to implement a longstanding statutory mandate for a cabinet level of recognition in Section 110(h) of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Secretary’s award is distinguished from other historic preservation award programs in that it focuses on the accomplishments of individual employees and not on programs or projects. The award also recognizes the contributions of employees at multiple levels of government.
Award winners are individuals whose contributions surpass the expected scope of their positions, and whose creativity and expertise have significantly fostered the overall goals of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Participating in the ceremony along with the Secretary were Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett as Master of Ceremonies and National Park Service Director Mary Bomar.
More information on the award winners in each of the four categories follows. More information on the annual award can be found at http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/preservation.html.
Kelly Jackson: Tribal Historic Preservation Office Category
Kelly Jackson has served as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin since 1998. Kelly is Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s (ACHP) Native American Advisory Group and has served on the Archaeology Task Force as well as the ACHP’s Human Resource Policy Task Force. She assisted in the development of a leading guide to tribal historic preservation. Published by the Great Lakes Indian Law Center, University of Wisconsin Law School, it is called What is Tribal Historic Preservation, A Guide to Tribal Historic Preservation in Indian Country.
Kelly was an active panelist in the Preserve America Summit held in New Orleans in October 2006 and co-authored one of the panel position papers at the summit. Kelly also serves as the chief grant administrator for the Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) program and has completed twelve Tribal Project grants. Nationally, Kelly has been active in the Native American Tribal Historic Preservation Officers organization and has been a Board Member and Treasurer since its inception.
Deborah Corbett: Federal Preservation Office Category
Debbie Corbett serves as the Regional Historic Preservation Officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska, which contains 16 National Wildlife Refuges totaling over 78 million acres. As Alaska’s only Service archeologist, her responsibilities cover all aspects of the federal preservation program including research, identification, protection, coordination with Native villages, and care of museum collections.
In 2008, Debbie partnered with more than a dozen organizations, universities, government entities, and tribes to leverage federal funds to accomplish dozens of projects. Other projects include the complex issues associated with World War II in the Pacific in the Aleutian Islands as well as coordination with the Japanese government. She has also partnered with the Kenaitze Indian tribe and sponsored a youth Susten Camp for Native kids that connects kids with their past and trains them for possible careers in natural and cultural resource management.
Debbie has been involved with vast stretches of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and has assisted the research along the route and sponsored archaeological investigation through a major community on the trail.
William Morgan: Certified Local Government Category
Bill Morgan is a graduate architect and has both served on and currently staffs the Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission of Muncie, Indiana. Working in good faith with many resident groups and local districts of varying views, Bill has managed to bring them together at the table for mutually satisfactory solutions.
Bill prepared an “Electronic Communication Policy” to promote the use of email communication to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of the commission in meeting its objectives. He also developed a “Petition Signature Verification Policy” setting forth clear instructions on correctly structuring petitions and providing verifiable signatures. Adopted by the Commission, this innovative policy helps ensure that petitions with only legal property owners are presented to the Commission while non-conforming petitions are prevented from reaching and distracting the Commission.
With Bill’s leadership, the Muncie Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission turned serious challenges into positive changes to the Commission’s procedures, including the formation of a neighborhood advisory committee, the adoption of amendments to the City’s preservation ordinance and commission bylaws, and the adoption of several innovative policies to improve and protect the workings of the Commission. Bill’s efforts have repeatedly reached mutually amenable outcomes and have regained neighborhood support for the role of the Commission in the protection of Muncie’s cultural resources.
Calder Loth: State Historic Preservation Office Category
In a career spanning four decades, Calder Loth has shaped the direction of historic preservation programs from survey and National Register listings to rehabilitation tax credits, review and compliance, and preservation easements. He has inspired generations of preservation professionals. Calder began his career as a newly minted Master of Architectural History from the University of Virginia in 1968 with the equally new Virginia Landmarks Commission. Over 40 years, Calder has grown with what is now the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, working with property owners, preservation professionals, scholars, and public agencies in all aspects of the national historic preservation program.
A respected Senior Architectural Historian for Virginia, Calder has played an integral role in Virginia’s historic preservation easement program for the entire life of this nationally recognized protection program. The state of Virginia holds over 450 historic preservation easements today and operates one of the most successful easement programs in the country.
Calder is a long-standing member of the Virginia Art and Architecture Review Board. His expertise has shaped the preservation and renovation of many buildings including the Virginia State Capital and the historic executive mansion. He continues to give back to the preservation community as a staunch advocate and widely published author for “architectural literacy” giving lectures to museums, universities, and professional societies worldwide.
Contact: Joan Moody
202-208-6416
http://7thspace.com/headlines/299492/secretary_kempthorne_presents_first_annual_secretarial_historic_preservation_awards.html
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today presented the first annual Secretary of the Interior Historic Preservation Awards to four government and tribal employees at the department’s Washington headquarters.
“These awards are the equivalent of an Emmy award in the field of historic preservation,” Secretary Kempthorne said at the ceremony in his office. “The ingenuity and dedication of these individuals are inspiring. The first-ever winners include Deborah Corbett, a Fish and Wildlife Service archeologist covering a territory of 78 million often-frozen acres in Alaska; Kelly Jackson, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Lac du Flambeau band in Wisconsin; William Morgan, a consensus builder who staffs the Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission in Muncie, Indiana; and Calder Loth, Senior Architectural Historian for the state of Virginia.”
The Secretary of the Interior historic preservation annual award program was created to recognize the outstanding contributions of the employees of Federal, State, and Tribal Preservation Offices and Certified Local Governments in the area of historic preservation.
Secretary Kempthorne established the award to implement a longstanding statutory mandate for a cabinet level of recognition in Section 110(h) of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Secretary’s award is distinguished from other historic preservation award programs in that it focuses on the accomplishments of individual employees and not on programs or projects. The award also recognizes the contributions of employees at multiple levels of government.
Award winners are individuals whose contributions surpass the expected scope of their positions, and whose creativity and expertise have significantly fostered the overall goals of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Participating in the ceremony along with the Secretary were Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett as Master of Ceremonies and National Park Service Director Mary Bomar.
More information on the award winners in each of the four categories follows. More information on the annual award can be found at http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/preservation.html.
Kelly Jackson: Tribal Historic Preservation Office Category
Kelly Jackson has served as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin since 1998. Kelly is Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s (ACHP) Native American Advisory Group and has served on the Archaeology Task Force as well as the ACHP’s Human Resource Policy Task Force. She assisted in the development of a leading guide to tribal historic preservation. Published by the Great Lakes Indian Law Center, University of Wisconsin Law School, it is called What is Tribal Historic Preservation, A Guide to Tribal Historic Preservation in Indian Country.
Kelly was an active panelist in the Preserve America Summit held in New Orleans in October 2006 and co-authored one of the panel position papers at the summit. Kelly also serves as the chief grant administrator for the Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) program and has completed twelve Tribal Project grants. Nationally, Kelly has been active in the Native American Tribal Historic Preservation Officers organization and has been a Board Member and Treasurer since its inception.
Deborah Corbett: Federal Preservation Office Category
Debbie Corbett serves as the Regional Historic Preservation Officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska, which contains 16 National Wildlife Refuges totaling over 78 million acres. As Alaska’s only Service archeologist, her responsibilities cover all aspects of the federal preservation program including research, identification, protection, coordination with Native villages, and care of museum collections.
In 2008, Debbie partnered with more than a dozen organizations, universities, government entities, and tribes to leverage federal funds to accomplish dozens of projects. Other projects include the complex issues associated with World War II in the Pacific in the Aleutian Islands as well as coordination with the Japanese government. She has also partnered with the Kenaitze Indian tribe and sponsored a youth Susten Camp for Native kids that connects kids with their past and trains them for possible careers in natural and cultural resource management.
Debbie has been involved with vast stretches of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and has assisted the research along the route and sponsored archaeological investigation through a major community on the trail.
William Morgan: Certified Local Government Category
Bill Morgan is a graduate architect and has both served on and currently staffs the Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission of Muncie, Indiana. Working in good faith with many resident groups and local districts of varying views, Bill has managed to bring them together at the table for mutually satisfactory solutions.
Bill prepared an “Electronic Communication Policy” to promote the use of email communication to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of the commission in meeting its objectives. He also developed a “Petition Signature Verification Policy” setting forth clear instructions on correctly structuring petitions and providing verifiable signatures. Adopted by the Commission, this innovative policy helps ensure that petitions with only legal property owners are presented to the Commission while non-conforming petitions are prevented from reaching and distracting the Commission.
With Bill’s leadership, the Muncie Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission turned serious challenges into positive changes to the Commission’s procedures, including the formation of a neighborhood advisory committee, the adoption of amendments to the City’s preservation ordinance and commission bylaws, and the adoption of several innovative policies to improve and protect the workings of the Commission. Bill’s efforts have repeatedly reached mutually amenable outcomes and have regained neighborhood support for the role of the Commission in the protection of Muncie’s cultural resources.
Calder Loth: State Historic Preservation Office Category
In a career spanning four decades, Calder Loth has shaped the direction of historic preservation programs from survey and National Register listings to rehabilitation tax credits, review and compliance, and preservation easements. He has inspired generations of preservation professionals. Calder began his career as a newly minted Master of Architectural History from the University of Virginia in 1968 with the equally new Virginia Landmarks Commission. Over 40 years, Calder has grown with what is now the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, working with property owners, preservation professionals, scholars, and public agencies in all aspects of the national historic preservation program.
A respected Senior Architectural Historian for Virginia, Calder has played an integral role in Virginia’s historic preservation easement program for the entire life of this nationally recognized protection program. The state of Virginia holds over 450 historic preservation easements today and operates one of the most successful easement programs in the country.
Calder is a long-standing member of the Virginia Art and Architecture Review Board. His expertise has shaped the preservation and renovation of many buildings including the Virginia State Capital and the historic executive mansion. He continues to give back to the preservation community as a staunch advocate and widely published author for “architectural literacy” giving lectures to museums, universities, and professional societies worldwide.
Contact: Joan Moody
202-208-6416
http://7thspace.com/headlines/299492/secretary_kempthorne_presents_first_annual_secretarial_historic_preservation_awards.html
Bones found at Stone Street development could be remains of Sauk Indians killed in battle considered by some 'myth'
Bones found at Stone Street development could be remains of Sauk Indians killed in battle considered by some 'myth'
by Joe Lawlor | The Flint Journal
Friday December 05, 2008, 11:40 PM
Jane Hale | The Flint Journal
Members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe survey land after Indian remains were found near Atwood Stadium in January.
FLINT, Michigan -- There's an ancient story about a battle on the shores of the Flint River between two warring American-Indian tribes.
The bloody battle turned Genesee County into sacred land and the ghosts of the Sauk Indians long haunted the area -- or so the story goes.
It's always seemed to be mostly legend, not necessarily rooted in fact.
But, maybe, just maybe, it's more than a story after all.
Flint Journal extras
• More light could be shed on the historical mystery of the remains of Native Americans found this year at the Stone Street development when Michigan State University anthropologist Norm Sauer releases the results of a study of the remains.
• The study is expected to be released sometime soon.
The new evidence? Bones unearthed last winter on Stone Street in Flint when crews were building foundations for the government housing redevelopment project.
In a development that could be a plotline for the PBS show "History Detectives," a local resident accidentally came across a musty book that could help unravel mystery.
"I was looking for a German book, when I came across this book," said resident Jason Hartley, referring to a 1905 Flint history book he has owned for a few years. "When I read the passages, I couldn't believe it. We've been talking about these bones in the neighborhood for a while now."
The book, by a collection of authors edited by Charles A. Lippincott, pinpoints a location for a tribal battle that could be Stone Street or nearby.
A local historian said the book is credible and the account is possible, although another Flint history book called the entire battle a "myth."
The book talks about how the Chippewa and Ottawa tribes created an alliance and forced out the Sauk tribe, starting with battles at the mouth of the Saginaw River near Lake Huron down to Flint.
"One of these battles, and it is stated 'the biggest' was fought on the high bluff overlooking the Flint (River) ....and almost directly across the river from the School for the Deaf," the book reads.
While it could describe areas besides Stone Street, the street is on high ground overlooking the Flint River and is across the river from the Michigan School for the Deaf.
Anthropologist Norm Sauer of Michigan State University previously has said that the remains were pre-1800 American Indians.
Sauer said by studying the bones, it's sometimes possible to tell if someone died a violent death. And he said another clue would be to look at whether the bones appeared to be a proper burial, or if the dead were just left on the ground, perhaps after warfare.
His the study will be released soon, but said he can't talk about any of their findings until the study is completed.
Hartley, who lives nearby, said he's excited that the land could have been the site of a dramatic battle.
"This is a big part of Flint history that people don't pay any attention to," Hartley said.
"The Situation in Flushing," a 1965 book by local native Edmund G. Love, also gave prominence to the local lore of the battle.
It claimed that the battle "set loose several hundred ghosts in the area" until the Chippewa tribe made the area holy land.
David White, past president of the Genesee County Historical Society, said it is plausible that the remains could be the result of a battle.
He said another Flint history book from the 1800s mentions the tribal battle, although it doesn't talk about a specific site. But a third history book from 1916 doubts that the Sauk tribes were forced out due to warfare, calling the entire battle a "myth" and suggesting the Sauks moved out for other reasons.
Officials from the Saginaw Tribe of Chippewa Indians couldn't be reached for comment.
Johnathan Buffalo, a historian with the Meskwaki tribe, which includes descendants of the Sauks, said the battles with the Chippewa and Ottawa tribes coincide with their account of history.
"They pushed us into Wisconsin. By the late 1650s we were out of Michigan," said Buffalo, of Tama, Iowa. "We've always considered Michigan our home."
Much of early Native American history is oral history, making it difficult to resolve discrepancies, White said.
Meanwhile, the land itself remains in limbo.
The Genesee County Land Bank has offered the land to the Saginaw Tribe of Chippewa Indians, but so far there's been no decision.
White said in any event, he would like to see the area become a historic site talking about the role of Native Americans in Flint -- maybe even use the one Stone Street house that was completed before the remains were found as a welcome center.
"We want to work with the Chippewa tribe to make it a memorial," White said.
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/12/bones_found_at_stone_street_de.html
by Joe Lawlor | The Flint Journal
Friday December 05, 2008, 11:40 PM
Jane Hale | The Flint Journal
Members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe survey land after Indian remains were found near Atwood Stadium in January.
FLINT, Michigan -- There's an ancient story about a battle on the shores of the Flint River between two warring American-Indian tribes.
The bloody battle turned Genesee County into sacred land and the ghosts of the Sauk Indians long haunted the area -- or so the story goes.
It's always seemed to be mostly legend, not necessarily rooted in fact.
But, maybe, just maybe, it's more than a story after all.
Flint Journal extras
• More light could be shed on the historical mystery of the remains of Native Americans found this year at the Stone Street development when Michigan State University anthropologist Norm Sauer releases the results of a study of the remains.
• The study is expected to be released sometime soon.
The new evidence? Bones unearthed last winter on Stone Street in Flint when crews were building foundations for the government housing redevelopment project.
In a development that could be a plotline for the PBS show "History Detectives," a local resident accidentally came across a musty book that could help unravel mystery.
"I was looking for a German book, when I came across this book," said resident Jason Hartley, referring to a 1905 Flint history book he has owned for a few years. "When I read the passages, I couldn't believe it. We've been talking about these bones in the neighborhood for a while now."
The book, by a collection of authors edited by Charles A. Lippincott, pinpoints a location for a tribal battle that could be Stone Street or nearby.
A local historian said the book is credible and the account is possible, although another Flint history book called the entire battle a "myth."
The book talks about how the Chippewa and Ottawa tribes created an alliance and forced out the Sauk tribe, starting with battles at the mouth of the Saginaw River near Lake Huron down to Flint.
"One of these battles, and it is stated 'the biggest' was fought on the high bluff overlooking the Flint (River) ....and almost directly across the river from the School for the Deaf," the book reads.
While it could describe areas besides Stone Street, the street is on high ground overlooking the Flint River and is across the river from the Michigan School for the Deaf.
Anthropologist Norm Sauer of Michigan State University previously has said that the remains were pre-1800 American Indians.
Sauer said by studying the bones, it's sometimes possible to tell if someone died a violent death. And he said another clue would be to look at whether the bones appeared to be a proper burial, or if the dead were just left on the ground, perhaps after warfare.
His the study will be released soon, but said he can't talk about any of their findings until the study is completed.
Hartley, who lives nearby, said he's excited that the land could have been the site of a dramatic battle.
"This is a big part of Flint history that people don't pay any attention to," Hartley said.
"The Situation in Flushing," a 1965 book by local native Edmund G. Love, also gave prominence to the local lore of the battle.
It claimed that the battle "set loose several hundred ghosts in the area" until the Chippewa tribe made the area holy land.
David White, past president of the Genesee County Historical Society, said it is plausible that the remains could be the result of a battle.
He said another Flint history book from the 1800s mentions the tribal battle, although it doesn't talk about a specific site. But a third history book from 1916 doubts that the Sauk tribes were forced out due to warfare, calling the entire battle a "myth" and suggesting the Sauks moved out for other reasons.
Officials from the Saginaw Tribe of Chippewa Indians couldn't be reached for comment.
Johnathan Buffalo, a historian with the Meskwaki tribe, which includes descendants of the Sauks, said the battles with the Chippewa and Ottawa tribes coincide with their account of history.
"They pushed us into Wisconsin. By the late 1650s we were out of Michigan," said Buffalo, of Tama, Iowa. "We've always considered Michigan our home."
Much of early Native American history is oral history, making it difficult to resolve discrepancies, White said.
Meanwhile, the land itself remains in limbo.
The Genesee County Land Bank has offered the land to the Saginaw Tribe of Chippewa Indians, but so far there's been no decision.
White said in any event, he would like to see the area become a historic site talking about the role of Native Americans in Flint -- maybe even use the one Stone Street house that was completed before the remains were found as a welcome center.
"We want to work with the Chippewa tribe to make it a memorial," White said.
http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/12/bones_found_at_stone_street_de.html
Fort Belknap Tribal program gets $58,000 grant
Tribal program gets $58,000 grant
FORT BELKNAP — A tribal program has been awarded more than $58,000 to develop and protect sacred sites on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.
The Fort Belknap Planning and Development Corporation in Harlem will focus on locations within the Grinnell Notch, which is an area where the tribe's sacred sites are in danger of desecration from mining activities, Indian Country Today reported.
The program was awarded the money this fall from the Indian Land Tenure Foundation Board of Directors. The program will be charged with developing a comprehensive, culturally appropriate and sustainable sacred site protection and preservation plan for the Grinnell Notch.
Two local elder/cultural advisory groups — the Buffalo Chasers and the White Clay Societies — are working closely with the corporation to accurately identify and document sacred sites in the area and help with the protection plan.
Former teacher's complaint rerouted
TWIN BRIDGES — A U.S. judge says federal court is not the proper place for a man to challenge his loss of work as a teacher in Twin Bridges.
Mark Weber says he lost his teaching position in 2005, after 21 years with the Twin Bridges School District, for being an hour late in returning an employment contract. Weber says he was fired. The school district says he resigned.
U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull says that under state law, Weber must pursue his complaint not in federal court, but through a process that includes arbitration. Earlier, Cebull agreed with the school district that Weber quit, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling. The court left Cebull to decide whether Weber followed the proper procedure to contest his loss of employment.
Carroll professor receives fellowship
HELENA — The National Endowment for the Arts is awarding a $25,000 fellowship to Loren Graham, an associate professor of English at Carroll College in Helena.
Graham is one of 42 American poets the endowment chose for fellowships.
His grant is in recognition of 10 poems in his manuscript titled "Mirrow."
Graham says he will use the fellowship to support a year away from his job at Carroll and work on his poetry book now in progress.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20081209/NEWS01/812090309
FORT BELKNAP — A tribal program has been awarded more than $58,000 to develop and protect sacred sites on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.
The Fort Belknap Planning and Development Corporation in Harlem will focus on locations within the Grinnell Notch, which is an area where the tribe's sacred sites are in danger of desecration from mining activities, Indian Country Today reported.
The program was awarded the money this fall from the Indian Land Tenure Foundation Board of Directors. The program will be charged with developing a comprehensive, culturally appropriate and sustainable sacred site protection and preservation plan for the Grinnell Notch.
Two local elder/cultural advisory groups — the Buffalo Chasers and the White Clay Societies — are working closely with the corporation to accurately identify and document sacred sites in the area and help with the protection plan.
Former teacher's complaint rerouted
TWIN BRIDGES — A U.S. judge says federal court is not the proper place for a man to challenge his loss of work as a teacher in Twin Bridges.
Mark Weber says he lost his teaching position in 2005, after 21 years with the Twin Bridges School District, for being an hour late in returning an employment contract. Weber says he was fired. The school district says he resigned.
U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull says that under state law, Weber must pursue his complaint not in federal court, but through a process that includes arbitration. Earlier, Cebull agreed with the school district that Weber quit, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling. The court left Cebull to decide whether Weber followed the proper procedure to contest his loss of employment.
Carroll professor receives fellowship
HELENA — The National Endowment for the Arts is awarding a $25,000 fellowship to Loren Graham, an associate professor of English at Carroll College in Helena.
Graham is one of 42 American poets the endowment chose for fellowships.
His grant is in recognition of 10 poems in his manuscript titled "Mirrow."
Graham says he will use the fellowship to support a year away from his job at Carroll and work on his poetry book now in progress.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20081209/NEWS01/812090309
Bone repatriation poses some problems in Alaska
Bone repatriation poses some problems
KUCB News
UNALASKA, AK (2008-12-11) The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is a federal law that requires museums and federal agencies to return human remains and other cultural items to their linear descendants. That means it's up to people like U.S. Fish & Wildlife archaeologist Debbie Corbett to locate all of the remains that were taken off of federal lands in Alaska, identify who they belong to, and try to get them home. But Corbett says the process isn't always straight forward for the dozens of remains she handles each year. The archaeologists and others who removed the bones, mostly during the 1930s and 40s, didn't always do it carefully.
"They're grabbing a bag full of bones that may or may not belong to one person," she said. "There may be two people mixed in, there may be three people mixed in. They may all belong to one person. So what we did was we got all these fragments together in one place and looked at them as a group to try to see if we could reassemble individuals."
Corbett looked at the bones' sizes and markings to determine if they were from males or females, youth or adults. Some bones show scars from arthritis, others show where muscles twisted and pulled for rowing kayaks or sewing baskets. "It's pretty interesting picture of daily life," she said.
Some of the recent NAGPRA claims are from bones removed from burial caves in the Islands of the Four Mountains. The remains cannot be returned to the caves because they are not secure. Corbett said many times modern tribes in Alaska aren't sure what to do with ancient remains.
"Putting them in a Christian cemetery may not be appropriate because they may not have been Christian. So they're still internally trying to figure out what is appropriate for these remains."
For other remains, the answer is much clearer. Remains originally removed from Agattu Island in the Near Island group are buried by the Aleut Corporation in a special graveyard on nearby Shimiya Island. Aleut Corporation representative Melvin Smith says they want to return the remains to the area and bury them with respect.
"Some times we've brought out a priest--we've taken Father Peter out with us a couple of times--and then other times I've gone out there myself, sometimes with our president, and we've just did a burial and put up a cross and whatnot marking the grave."
A new NAGPRA claim has recently been issued for remains from T. P. Banks collection for an individual found on Agattu in 1949. All notices of repatriation of remains and cultural items are posted online in the federal registrar.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1437672§ionID=1
KUCB News
UNALASKA, AK (2008-12-11) The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is a federal law that requires museums and federal agencies to return human remains and other cultural items to their linear descendants. That means it's up to people like U.S. Fish & Wildlife archaeologist Debbie Corbett to locate all of the remains that were taken off of federal lands in Alaska, identify who they belong to, and try to get them home. But Corbett says the process isn't always straight forward for the dozens of remains she handles each year. The archaeologists and others who removed the bones, mostly during the 1930s and 40s, didn't always do it carefully.
"They're grabbing a bag full of bones that may or may not belong to one person," she said. "There may be two people mixed in, there may be three people mixed in. They may all belong to one person. So what we did was we got all these fragments together in one place and looked at them as a group to try to see if we could reassemble individuals."
Corbett looked at the bones' sizes and markings to determine if they were from males or females, youth or adults. Some bones show scars from arthritis, others show where muscles twisted and pulled for rowing kayaks or sewing baskets. "It's pretty interesting picture of daily life," she said.
Some of the recent NAGPRA claims are from bones removed from burial caves in the Islands of the Four Mountains. The remains cannot be returned to the caves because they are not secure. Corbett said many times modern tribes in Alaska aren't sure what to do with ancient remains.
"Putting them in a Christian cemetery may not be appropriate because they may not have been Christian. So they're still internally trying to figure out what is appropriate for these remains."
For other remains, the answer is much clearer. Remains originally removed from Agattu Island in the Near Island group are buried by the Aleut Corporation in a special graveyard on nearby Shimiya Island. Aleut Corporation representative Melvin Smith says they want to return the remains to the area and bury them with respect.
"Some times we've brought out a priest--we've taken Father Peter out with us a couple of times--and then other times I've gone out there myself, sometimes with our president, and we've just did a burial and put up a cross and whatnot marking the grave."
A new NAGPRA claim has recently been issued for remains from T. P. Banks collection for an individual found on Agattu in 1949. All notices of repatriation of remains and cultural items are posted online in the federal registrar.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1437672§ionID=1
Restoring harmony with reburial of Native American remains
Restoring harmony with reburial of Native American remains
Artifacts and ancestors exhumed for construction of Playa Vista will be returned to the earth, ending a years-long rift between tribal members and developers.
By Tami Abdollah and Jason Song
December 14, 2008
More than 15 years of acrimony came to an end Saturday when about 1,000 Native American remains that had been exhumed during construction were laid to rest and covered with white seashells during a sacred burial ceremony near the Westchester bluffs.
For Robert Dorame, a Bellflower resident designated by the state Native American Heritage Commission as the "most likely descendant" of the American Indians buried at the site, the day represented a peaceful conclusion to a painstaking project in which he supervised the blessing and bundling of the remains.
"The ancestors have been sitting in cardboard boxes in shelves on a trailer for a lot of years," Dorame said. "So you know, it's a great -- we use the word in our language awesko -- a rejoice. . . . We're happy it's finally come to an end."
Most of the remains were discovered after construction began on the Playa Vista luxury housing development, prompting negotiations and bitter fights among tribal representatives, developers and various local and state officials.
On Saturday, the remains were interred in a freshly dug grave as elders paid their final respects in a private ceremony. In the afternoon, the area was opened to visitors who scattered pieces of seashells over the site, which will soon be covered by native plant species including cactus.
City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents the area, referenced the bitter past and peaceful ending when addressing the crowd of about 300.
"There was a combination of anger . . . and a feeling of joy and happiness," he said.
The remains and artifacts were interred in a 4,100-square-foot patch of land adjacent to their original burial site.
The land, sandwiched between the posh high-rise buildings of Playa Vista and a newly formed waterway to channel runoff from nearby neighborhoods, was once home to the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe. From 3500 BC through the 1820s, the tribe fished, hunted and lived throughout much of the area that today is called the Ballona wetlands and Westchester bluffs. It is here that the village of Guashna was located, as well as a burial site for nearly 400 American Indians.
When Playa Vista developers in the early 1990s proposed their two-phase project of nearly 6,000 luxury housing units, more than 3.2 million square feet of office space and 180,000 square feet of retail space, they knew that Native American remains could be a concern. Artifacts and bones had been found periodically throughout the area.
But reaching an agreement on how to handle the remains proved difficult for several reasons.
Federal laws designed to protect Native American remains from being removed did not apply in this case because the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe has never been federally recognized. A private agreement was crafted in 1991 by state and local regulators, Playa Vista and three representatives of the Gabrielino-Tongva. The agreement detailed procedures for handling bodies or cultural artifacts found during construction. Archaeologists from Statistical Research Inc. were hired by Playa Vista to dig, catalog and box the remains and artifacts that were found. But the tribe was fractured over the agreement, and many leaders said they had not been informed about what was happening.
As the project lagged, the agreement was extended in 2001 for another 10 years.
In 2003, when workers began digging out soil to create a waterway for drainage from neighborhood homes and storm water treatment, they discovered a burial site dating back at least 200 years and hundreds of Native American remains. The number of remains surprised all sides and inflamed tensions again.
The Native American Heritage Commission sent strongly worded letters to Playa Vista officials saying their sacred lands had been violated, and environmentalists filed lawsuits over the waterway that were appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But after Saturday's reburial, the fight is over.
"It's closure on an issue that's been challenging and difficult," said Steve Sugerman, a spokesman for Playa Vista. "We've handled it in the most respectful way we knew how to follow. . . and we hope this brings focus to their history and their culture and celebrates it, as well as moving forward."
As part of that focus, Playa Vista plans to complete a museum dubbed the Discov- ery Center to educate people about the Ballona wetlands and the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe. It is expected to be completed at the end of next year.
"Here's the recognition of who we are in Los Angeles," Dorame said. "This is the native land and the prime places that have been overrun . . . and here we are giving new generations the opportunity to understand us and to know we're still here. We take care of the land; we take care of our ancestors."
Abdollah and Song are Times staff writers..
tami.abdollah@latimes.com
jason.song@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-then14-2008dec14,0,4321751.story
Artifacts and ancestors exhumed for construction of Playa Vista will be returned to the earth, ending a years-long rift between tribal members and developers.
By Tami Abdollah and Jason Song
December 14, 2008
More than 15 years of acrimony came to an end Saturday when about 1,000 Native American remains that had been exhumed during construction were laid to rest and covered with white seashells during a sacred burial ceremony near the Westchester bluffs.
For Robert Dorame, a Bellflower resident designated by the state Native American Heritage Commission as the "most likely descendant" of the American Indians buried at the site, the day represented a peaceful conclusion to a painstaking project in which he supervised the blessing and bundling of the remains.
"The ancestors have been sitting in cardboard boxes in shelves on a trailer for a lot of years," Dorame said. "So you know, it's a great -- we use the word in our language awesko -- a rejoice. . . . We're happy it's finally come to an end."
Most of the remains were discovered after construction began on the Playa Vista luxury housing development, prompting negotiations and bitter fights among tribal representatives, developers and various local and state officials.
On Saturday, the remains were interred in a freshly dug grave as elders paid their final respects in a private ceremony. In the afternoon, the area was opened to visitors who scattered pieces of seashells over the site, which will soon be covered by native plant species including cactus.
City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents the area, referenced the bitter past and peaceful ending when addressing the crowd of about 300.
"There was a combination of anger . . . and a feeling of joy and happiness," he said.
The remains and artifacts were interred in a 4,100-square-foot patch of land adjacent to their original burial site.
The land, sandwiched between the posh high-rise buildings of Playa Vista and a newly formed waterway to channel runoff from nearby neighborhoods, was once home to the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe. From 3500 BC through the 1820s, the tribe fished, hunted and lived throughout much of the area that today is called the Ballona wetlands and Westchester bluffs. It is here that the village of Guashna was located, as well as a burial site for nearly 400 American Indians.
When Playa Vista developers in the early 1990s proposed their two-phase project of nearly 6,000 luxury housing units, more than 3.2 million square feet of office space and 180,000 square feet of retail space, they knew that Native American remains could be a concern. Artifacts and bones had been found periodically throughout the area.
But reaching an agreement on how to handle the remains proved difficult for several reasons.
Federal laws designed to protect Native American remains from being removed did not apply in this case because the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe has never been federally recognized. A private agreement was crafted in 1991 by state and local regulators, Playa Vista and three representatives of the Gabrielino-Tongva. The agreement detailed procedures for handling bodies or cultural artifacts found during construction. Archaeologists from Statistical Research Inc. were hired by Playa Vista to dig, catalog and box the remains and artifacts that were found. But the tribe was fractured over the agreement, and many leaders said they had not been informed about what was happening.
As the project lagged, the agreement was extended in 2001 for another 10 years.
In 2003, when workers began digging out soil to create a waterway for drainage from neighborhood homes and storm water treatment, they discovered a burial site dating back at least 200 years and hundreds of Native American remains. The number of remains surprised all sides and inflamed tensions again.
The Native American Heritage Commission sent strongly worded letters to Playa Vista officials saying their sacred lands had been violated, and environmentalists filed lawsuits over the waterway that were appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But after Saturday's reburial, the fight is over.
"It's closure on an issue that's been challenging and difficult," said Steve Sugerman, a spokesman for Playa Vista. "We've handled it in the most respectful way we knew how to follow. . . and we hope this brings focus to their history and their culture and celebrates it, as well as moving forward."
As part of that focus, Playa Vista plans to complete a museum dubbed the Discov- ery Center to educate people about the Ballona wetlands and the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe. It is expected to be completed at the end of next year.
"Here's the recognition of who we are in Los Angeles," Dorame said. "This is the native land and the prime places that have been overrun . . . and here we are giving new generations the opportunity to understand us and to know we're still here. We take care of the land; we take care of our ancestors."
Abdollah and Song are Times staff writers..
tami.abdollah@latimes.com
jason.song@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-then14-2008dec14,0,4321751.story
Panel orders American Indian remains reburied for Bolsa Chica
Panel orders American Indian remains reburied
Handling of materials from Bolsa Chica graves has drawn criticism.
By Joe Segura, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/13/2008 09:59:52 PM PST
Updated: 12/13/2008 10:10:43 PM PST
PRESS-TELEGRAM BLOG » Read more from reporter Joe Segura in Neighbors
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO -- The state Native American Heritage Commission has ordered ancient remains discovered at the Bolsa Chica wetlands mesa in Huntington Beach to be buried within two months.
It was the second review in the span of a month of the handling of scores of remains, following a chorus of complaints Nov. 13 at a state Coastal Commission hearing in Long Beach that the unearthed remains are not being handled properly.
The ancestral remains, along with artifacts buried with them, have been unceremoniously bagged and stored in trailers for about two years, critics charged.
"This is an example of cultural catastrophe," said Anthony Rivera Jr., chairman of the Juaneno band of mission Indians in San Juan Capistrano.
The Native American Cultural Heritage Commission, in its unanimous vote late Friday night, wants the contents of the bagged items to be sorted and documented, in preparation for burial. It also has asked its staff to probe what steps the commission can take to preserve six acres at the wetlands mesa that are now pegged for development.
Before the Friday night vote, critics repeated the charges they made last month during a Coastal Commission review of a request to revoke the developer's building permits at the wetlands' mesa site.
In a nutshell, scores of
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ancient burials were discovered, along with thousands of artifacts, at the wetlands mesa. Critics contend the developer kept details secret to avoid restrictions on development at a significant site.
The developer, Hearthside Homes, countered that the details were provided in environmental reports.
Ed Mountford, senior vice president for Hearthside Homes, told the Coastal Commission last month that details of the discoveries were documented in a series of environmental impact reports submitted to the commission over the past two decades, as part of the commission's review process before voting on development permits.
He said some burials have been made, vowing that the remainder would be soon.
Details of the unearthed finds, however, had not reached the Native American Heritage Commission, according to program analyst Dave Singleton.
"There apparently are as many as 6,000 bags of material in trailers adjacent to the (Hearthside Homes) development site, far more than had previously been reported to the NAHC," Singleton stated in a letter released shortly after the Coastal Commission hearing in Long Beach.
"This find," Singleton added, "also raises the question about the balance of the material in those bags that may comprise many more fragments of human remains and possible associated grave goods."
The mesa, critics contend, could be a giant grave, which would limit development of the site.
The Native American Heritage Commission takes the lack of timely information seriously, Singleton said.
"The NAHC does have jurisdiction in such matters as the state trustee agency for the protection of Native American cultural resources and burial sites," he said.
On Nov. 13, the state Coastal Commission turned down the request to revoke the developer's building permit, ruling it did not have enough evidence to show intentional misconduct.
Anthony Morales, a Native American who led the push for revocation, suggested Friday night that burial sites should no longer become subject to scientific reviews.
"To heck with the archaeologists and science!" he snapped. "These are our ancestors!"
Mountford testified Thursday before a Coastal Commission hearing in San Francisco, vowing to have the reburials completed in a month's time without the scientific review, Singleton told the Native American Heritage Commission.
Critics had an uphill task getting the Coastal Commission's nod on a revocation, since the commission staff had recommended its denial.
The staff determined that excavation and salvage programs had followed prescribed protocols.
The Coastal Commission's staff report listed among the discoveries at the two sites 83 human remains that need to be reburied. More than 100,000 artifacts have been collected, including 5,839 items found during grading -- making the area, according to the critics, a significant site that should have had its status reported to the commission in a timely manner.
Many of the critics repeatedly charged that developer's archaeologist status reports dismissed the site as having little archaeological significance.
However, according to the Coastal Commission staff report, the revocation request "fails to demonstrate intentional inclusion of inaccurate, erroneous or incomplete information" into required reports to the commission.
No details of the discoveries were withheld by the applicant's archaeologist, the commission staff concluded.
Reburials are being held up, in part, because the documentation on the artifacts needs to be completed first -- mainly because the artifacts are often reburied with the ancient remains.
joe.segura@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1274
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_11228760?nclick_check=1
Handling of materials from Bolsa Chica graves has drawn criticism.
By Joe Segura, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/13/2008 09:59:52 PM PST
Updated: 12/13/2008 10:10:43 PM PST
PRESS-TELEGRAM BLOG » Read more from reporter Joe Segura in Neighbors
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO -- The state Native American Heritage Commission has ordered ancient remains discovered at the Bolsa Chica wetlands mesa in Huntington Beach to be buried within two months.
It was the second review in the span of a month of the handling of scores of remains, following a chorus of complaints Nov. 13 at a state Coastal Commission hearing in Long Beach that the unearthed remains are not being handled properly.
The ancestral remains, along with artifacts buried with them, have been unceremoniously bagged and stored in trailers for about two years, critics charged.
"This is an example of cultural catastrophe," said Anthony Rivera Jr., chairman of the Juaneno band of mission Indians in San Juan Capistrano.
The Native American Cultural Heritage Commission, in its unanimous vote late Friday night, wants the contents of the bagged items to be sorted and documented, in preparation for burial. It also has asked its staff to probe what steps the commission can take to preserve six acres at the wetlands mesa that are now pegged for development.
Before the Friday night vote, critics repeated the charges they made last month during a Coastal Commission review of a request to revoke the developer's building permits at the wetlands' mesa site.
In a nutshell, scores of
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ancient burials were discovered, along with thousands of artifacts, at the wetlands mesa. Critics contend the developer kept details secret to avoid restrictions on development at a significant site.
The developer, Hearthside Homes, countered that the details were provided in environmental reports.
Ed Mountford, senior vice president for Hearthside Homes, told the Coastal Commission last month that details of the discoveries were documented in a series of environmental impact reports submitted to the commission over the past two decades, as part of the commission's review process before voting on development permits.
He said some burials have been made, vowing that the remainder would be soon.
Details of the unearthed finds, however, had not reached the Native American Heritage Commission, according to program analyst Dave Singleton.
"There apparently are as many as 6,000 bags of material in trailers adjacent to the (Hearthside Homes) development site, far more than had previously been reported to the NAHC," Singleton stated in a letter released shortly after the Coastal Commission hearing in Long Beach.
"This find," Singleton added, "also raises the question about the balance of the material in those bags that may comprise many more fragments of human remains and possible associated grave goods."
The mesa, critics contend, could be a giant grave, which would limit development of the site.
The Native American Heritage Commission takes the lack of timely information seriously, Singleton said.
"The NAHC does have jurisdiction in such matters as the state trustee agency for the protection of Native American cultural resources and burial sites," he said.
On Nov. 13, the state Coastal Commission turned down the request to revoke the developer's building permit, ruling it did not have enough evidence to show intentional misconduct.
Anthony Morales, a Native American who led the push for revocation, suggested Friday night that burial sites should no longer become subject to scientific reviews.
"To heck with the archaeologists and science!" he snapped. "These are our ancestors!"
Mountford testified Thursday before a Coastal Commission hearing in San Francisco, vowing to have the reburials completed in a month's time without the scientific review, Singleton told the Native American Heritage Commission.
Critics had an uphill task getting the Coastal Commission's nod on a revocation, since the commission staff had recommended its denial.
The staff determined that excavation and salvage programs had followed prescribed protocols.
The Coastal Commission's staff report listed among the discoveries at the two sites 83 human remains that need to be reburied. More than 100,000 artifacts have been collected, including 5,839 items found during grading -- making the area, according to the critics, a significant site that should have had its status reported to the commission in a timely manner.
Many of the critics repeatedly charged that developer's archaeologist status reports dismissed the site as having little archaeological significance.
However, according to the Coastal Commission staff report, the revocation request "fails to demonstrate intentional inclusion of inaccurate, erroneous or incomplete information" into required reports to the commission.
No details of the discoveries were withheld by the applicant's archaeologist, the commission staff concluded.
Reburials are being held up, in part, because the documentation on the artifacts needs to be completed first -- mainly because the artifacts are often reburied with the ancient remains.
joe.segura@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1274
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_11228760?nclick_check=1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
