Post by Okwes on Apr 21, 2006 10:05:35 GMT -5
Park, Hopi Tribe will bury 1,528 Puebloan remains
Indian burial set at Mesa Verde Park, Hopi Tribe will bury 1,528
Puebloan remains
Thursday, April 20th 2006
By John R. Crane | Journal Staff Writer
www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type\
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The Hopi Tribe will bury the remains of more than 1,500 Ancestral
Puebloans and associated funerary objects during a closed ceremony at
Mesa Verde National Park.
National Park Service employees gave conflicting dates for the burial,
which could take place today at an undisclosed location within the park.
Mesa Verde spokeswoman Tessy Shirakawa said the sacred burial would
happen within the next week. But Sherry Hutt, program manager for the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Program in
Washington, D.C., said today, April 20, is the date for the ceremony.
The Hopi Tribe wants to keep the burial's location a secret and
plans to issue a press release after the ceremony, Shirakawa said. The
site was agreed upon by the park's 24 affiliated tribes.
"We can't even plot it on a map," Shirakawa said, declining
to reveal the site's location.
Services will be held for remains from 1,528 individuals of whom
Navajos, Zunis, Hopis and other Pueblo tribes are descendants, Hutt
said. Also to be buried are 4,889 funerary objects, including beads,
basketry and pottery, as well as 26 individuals who could not be
identified with a specific tribe, Hutt said.
The remains and objects date from 500 to 1300 A.D., and were excavated
at various times between the 1890s and 1990s, Hutt said. The burial will
come after years of talks among the tribes and the park, Shirakawa said.
"We've had 12 years of consultation to get to this point,"
Shirakawa said.
Some items were unearthed by individuals without a permit, who later
returned the remains and/or objects to the park. Others were discovered
by park staff and archaeological teams performing scientific study
before the construction of new infrastructure such as roads. University
field schools for archaeology classes also excavated items, Hutt said.
Shirakawa said the burial is the park's first that she knew of since
Congress enacted the NAGPRA in 1990.
"It's going to be a monumental event," Hutt said.
"It's a wonderful example of what the law authorizes."
Remains have been found at other sites in Southwest Colorado, including
the Animas-La Plata Project in southern Durango. Jim Potter, principal
investigator for archaeological investigations with SWCA Environmental
Consultants, said the remains of 250 to 350 individuals — dating
from 750 to 825 A.D. — and about 80 sites have been excavated.
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The Acoma Pueblo Tribe oversaw one burial at the project's site.
Potter said he could not reveal when the next burial will take place,
but said it would be within the next two years.
NAGPRA provides a process for museums and federal agencies to return
certain Native American cultural items, including human remains and
funerary and sacred objects, to lineal descendants, culturally
affiliated American Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.
Federal agencies, and public and private museums — except the
Smithsonian Institution — that have received federal funds are
subject to NAGPRA.
Congress passed NAGPRA because of a concern that cultural property
rights for American Indians were not adequately acknowledged by the
courts, or in practice by museums and federal agencies without specific
legislation, Hutt said.
From NAGPRA's enactment in 1990 until Sept. 30, 2005, the date of
the program's last report, 633,525 funerary objects and the remains
of 31,571 people have been entered into the Federal Register, Hutt said.
Tribes and the federal agency in control of remains/objects determine
the items' tribal affiliation, Hutt said.
The NAGPRA repatriation process includes the following requirements: n
Federal agencies and museums identify cultural items in their
collections that are subject to NAGPRA, and prepare summaries and
inventories of their items. n The agencies/museums must consult with
lineal descendants, American Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations regarding the identification and cultural affiliation of
the NAGPRA items. n The agencies/museums must send notices to
descendants, tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations describing
cultural items, lineal descendance or cultural affiliation, and stating
that the cultural items may be repatriated. n The law requires the
secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to publish these
notices in the Federal Register.
Indian burial set at Mesa Verde Park, Hopi Tribe will bury 1,528
Puebloan remains
Thursday, April 20th 2006
By John R. Crane | Journal Staff Writer
www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type\
=news&article_path=/news/06/news060420_5.htm
<http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_typ\
e=news&article_path=/news/06/news060420_5.htm>
The Hopi Tribe will bury the remains of more than 1,500 Ancestral
Puebloans and associated funerary objects during a closed ceremony at
Mesa Verde National Park.
National Park Service employees gave conflicting dates for the burial,
which could take place today at an undisclosed location within the park.
Mesa Verde spokeswoman Tessy Shirakawa said the sacred burial would
happen within the next week. But Sherry Hutt, program manager for the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Program in
Washington, D.C., said today, April 20, is the date for the ceremony.
The Hopi Tribe wants to keep the burial's location a secret and
plans to issue a press release after the ceremony, Shirakawa said. The
site was agreed upon by the park's 24 affiliated tribes.
"We can't even plot it on a map," Shirakawa said, declining
to reveal the site's location.
Services will be held for remains from 1,528 individuals of whom
Navajos, Zunis, Hopis and other Pueblo tribes are descendants, Hutt
said. Also to be buried are 4,889 funerary objects, including beads,
basketry and pottery, as well as 26 individuals who could not be
identified with a specific tribe, Hutt said.
The remains and objects date from 500 to 1300 A.D., and were excavated
at various times between the 1890s and 1990s, Hutt said. The burial will
come after years of talks among the tribes and the park, Shirakawa said.
"We've had 12 years of consultation to get to this point,"
Shirakawa said.
Some items were unearthed by individuals without a permit, who later
returned the remains and/or objects to the park. Others were discovered
by park staff and archaeological teams performing scientific study
before the construction of new infrastructure such as roads. University
field schools for archaeology classes also excavated items, Hutt said.
Shirakawa said the burial is the park's first that she knew of since
Congress enacted the NAGPRA in 1990.
"It's going to be a monumental event," Hutt said.
"It's a wonderful example of what the law authorizes."
Remains have been found at other sites in Southwest Colorado, including
the Animas-La Plata Project in southern Durango. Jim Potter, principal
investigator for archaeological investigations with SWCA Environmental
Consultants, said the remains of 250 to 350 individuals — dating
from 750 to 825 A.D. — and about 80 sites have been excavated.
<http://www.cortezjournal.com/shared-asp-bin/ad_redirect.aspx?account_nu\
mber=12&transaction_type=Button&transaction_number=20&expiration_style=D\
&href=http://www.durangoexclusive.com>
The Acoma Pueblo Tribe oversaw one burial at the project's site.
Potter said he could not reveal when the next burial will take place,
but said it would be within the next two years.
NAGPRA provides a process for museums and federal agencies to return
certain Native American cultural items, including human remains and
funerary and sacred objects, to lineal descendants, culturally
affiliated American Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.
Federal agencies, and public and private museums — except the
Smithsonian Institution — that have received federal funds are
subject to NAGPRA.
Congress passed NAGPRA because of a concern that cultural property
rights for American Indians were not adequately acknowledged by the
courts, or in practice by museums and federal agencies without specific
legislation, Hutt said.
From NAGPRA's enactment in 1990 until Sept. 30, 2005, the date of
the program's last report, 633,525 funerary objects and the remains
of 31,571 people have been entered into the Federal Register, Hutt said.
Tribes and the federal agency in control of remains/objects determine
the items' tribal affiliation, Hutt said.
The NAGPRA repatriation process includes the following requirements: n
Federal agencies and museums identify cultural items in their
collections that are subject to NAGPRA, and prepare summaries and
inventories of their items. n The agencies/museums must consult with
lineal descendants, American Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations regarding the identification and cultural affiliation of
the NAGPRA items. n The agencies/museums must send notices to
descendants, tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations describing
cultural items, lineal descendance or cultural affiliation, and stating
that the cultural items may be repatriated. n The law requires the
secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to publish these
notices in the Federal Register.