GRAVE DESECRATION

"It is important not only morally, but for our survival into the future. If all our burial sites are dug up, there will be no ancestor beings traveling the Spirit Journey from this world to the next. Then they would be unable to come to our ceremonies to instruct us on how to live. The continued desecration of our sacred burial sites is the very destruction of indian people. As native americans we cannot begin to correct our personal lives regarding alcohol, drug and domestic abuse until we are ensured the rights to protect our dead."

UNIONTOWN, KENTUCKY, JANUARY 1987

The first national recognition of Native "First" Nation grave desecration was in Uniontown, KY, in 1987, when over 1,200 graves were destroyed and looted. An anonymous call alerted State Police, the digging was halted and three men were arrested. At this time in Kentucky, as in many states, it was only a misdemeanor to dig grave sites, and the maximum sentence was five days in jail and a $100 fine. In this case, the site was on private property and the men had allegedly paid the farmer to dig there. However, through native solidarity and intolerance to grave robbing (which resulted in the issue gaining national attention), Governor Wallace was pressured to pass an emergency bill making grave desecration a felony in Kentucky.

EDWARDVILLE, ILLINOIS

The thousand year old remains of Native First nations discovered near Glen Carbon, Illinois, have been used as fill for a new highway. Officials of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency gave the Illinois Department of Transportation permission to use the remains site as a borrow pit saying that archeological surveys determined that the site was not worth saving. Permission to rebury the remains was denied after state officials decided it was of no archeological value.

SKAMOKAWA, WASHINGTON

Thirty years ago the grave site of Chinook Chief Skamokawa was plundered, and the peace medal he received from Lewis and Clark along with other personal belongings were taken. Last year the district that owns the land where Skamokawa's village and burial grounds lay proposed an interpretive hiking trail for recreational use that would run through the center of the burial area.The Chinook Nation fought Wahkiakum County Port District #2 to stop the trail accessing the site used by tribal members for religious ceremonies. In March, the State Shoreline Hearing Board ordered the trail rerouted. There was to be no access to the site from the trail, and no signs identifying the specific location would be permitted.

The ports latest actions violate that order. April 19, 1994, the port voted to continue with plans disregarding the independent archeological survey and rerouting of the trail as requested by the hearing board. The Commissioner suggested that the Chinook Nation should think about paying for the survey themselves.

ARCHEOLOGICAL INVOLVEMENT IN GRAVE DESECRATION

Archaeologists are enabled through license and federally-funded grants to desecrate sacred burial grounds. They argue that skeletal remains and artifacts are their discoveries and insist that these be unearthed for study, public display and educational purposes contending that the public would be "losing out" by reburying these finds. Archaeologists oppose the wishes of Native peoples to have their ancestor's remains returned to the ground in a dignified and respectful way.

Native Americans today can teach the public about ancient American Indian life, what they ate, how they lived. Our elders will teach our children about their ancestors and practice the teachings and customs that were passed down through the generations. They can teach the beadwork of the greatgrandmothers and the sacredness of the buffalo hunt. It is not necessary to dig up our dead to know what type of vegetation or animals they ate.

LAWS AND DOUBLE STANDARDS

The Freedom of Religion Act does not apply to grave desecration. In Indiana it is still only a misdemeanor to steal from a Native american Burial site, unless it is on private property at which point it becomes looting and thievery. The stolen remains are returned to the property owner, not to the respective tribes to which they belong. The Archaeological Resources Protection Act bars interstate trafficking in stolen articles. From lack of enforcement, looters not only go unpunished by receive great monetary rewards from museums and archaeologists.

Much effort goes into reburying remains when a cemetery is dugup, but the government does not allow Native Americans the right to do the same for our ancestors when they are disturbed. State law makes it a felony to rebury Indian remains unearthed during state sponsored projects, such as borrow pit excavations or highway construction. Instead the bones become permanent property of the state. Fines and/or jail time are automatically levied against anyone who so much as pushes over a gravestone in a cemetery. Apparently it is not against the law to use Native remains as "fill" for a borrow pit, but it is illegal to provide a decent reburial.

WE URGE THE PASSAGE OF FEDERAL AND STATE LEGISLATION PROTECTING NATIVE BURIAL GROUNDS EQUAL TO THE LAWS PROTECTING NON-NATIVE GRAVES AND CEMETERIES, AND THE PROTECTION OF BURIAL MOUNDS AND OTHER SACRED SITES FROM LOOTING OR DAMAGE.

WE URGE THE ENACTMENT OF A FREEDOM OF RELIGION PROTECTION ACT TO SAFEGUARD CEREMONIAL AND BURIAL SITES AND PREVENT THE DESTRUCTION OR POLLUTION OF THE SURROUNDING HABITAT.

WE REQUEST THE RETURN OF ALL NATIVE AMERICAN ARTICLES, HUMAN REMAINS, SACRED OBJECTS AND ARTIFACTS NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF ARCHEOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS AND MUSEUMS TO THEIR RESPECTFUL TRIBES.

WE REQUEST THE REVERSAL OF ANY LAWS RESTRICTING THE RIGHT TO PROPERLY REBURY ANY UNEARTHED OR DISTURBED HUMAN REMAINS AND ARTIFACTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR OWN TRADITIONS.

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