Post by blackcrowheart on May 22, 2007 10:04:14 GMT -5
Ancient bones await final resting placeAmerican Indians to reclaim
skeleton of mystery child found in Portland
By Christine Rook
A discovery: MSU forensic anthropology grad student Amber Heard and
physical anthropology grad student Jered Cornelison view in November
PORTLAND - For a time perhaps spanning centuries, the Earth kept a small
secret - a child buried out of reach of coyotes and weather and artifact
hunters. Boy? Girl? We'll never know. The bones, uncovered accidentally
in November by construction workers at a site near I-96, reveal only
that they are those of an American Indian about 10 to 12 years old.
Mitochondrial DNA, the genetic material passed exclusively from mother
to infant, recently con-firmed - through testing at MSU - the ethnic
link, and a critical question followed: What should become of the child?
Federal law requiring remains to be returned to local tribes does not
vertisement
<http://gcirm.lsj.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.lsj.com/stories/11\
59175306/ArticleFlex_1/OasDefault/LAN_Comerica_Small_Business/4286SBNWAS\
oar300x250-20k-3l.gif/63326230363932383435643032303130> Federal law
requiring remains to be returned to local tribes does not apply because
the body was found on private land, and there is no superseding state
rule. Though one of the owners of the Portland site intends to turn over
the remains to tribal officials, the bones could have permanently ended
up at a museum or research facility - an outcome that likely would have
upset Michigan's native peoples. "We come from our Earth Mother," said
Cecil Pavlat, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa
Indians. "We go back to her." The remains still are at Michigan State
University and are to be reburied, likely on tribal land to prevent them
from being disturbed again. Defusing tension It will remain a mystery in
which century the original grave was dug or what tribe chose to place it
1,000 feet from the Looking Glass River. Time and circumstance conspired
to erase the obvious clues anthropologists use to determine such things.
MSU's mission was merely to determine whether the child was a recent
homicide victim and if not, whether the remains were native. For
decades, research centers have stored human remains for study. MSU's
collection once represented at least 137 individuals and more than
18,000 funerary objects. The university has made several major
repatriations of human remains and associated funerary objects,
according to William Lovis, curator of anthropology at the MSU museum.
He noted the museum is in full compliance with the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. "It's a sensitive issue
because there is a history of tension between the Native American
community and museums around the country," said Norman Sauer, director
of the university's forensic anthropology lab. "Our response to that
tension has been to cooperate as much as possible." The friction stems,
in part, from cultural differences and the resulting connection native
peoples feel toward ancestral remains. Some Great Lakes tribes and bands
believe that to scatter a person's bones in a laboratory is to scatter
his spirit. "How would you feel if I decided today to study your left
leg?" said Earl Meshigaud, a Potawatomi tribal elder with the
Hannahville Indian Community in the Upper Peninsula. Life, he said, does
not end with death. Bones are not things. Mystery child The child's
skull was almost pulverized into road gravel and lost forever.
Construction workers in November unknowingly uncovered the bones as they
prepped a town home site overlooking the southern bank of the Looking
Glass. A front-end loader scooped the skull with a load of dirt and
dumped it onto a series of crushers, conveyers and screens. The skull
bobbed along and began to crumble, but not before 20-year-old Jeff Brown
of Lyons recognized its distinctly human shape. Work temporarily
stopped, the skull was removed and the child was rescued from the sand.
The burial site seems to have been oddly chosen. It's in the middle of
nowhere, and there are no other graves nearby. But the child's people
may have seen the burial as returning the youngster to Mother or
Grandmother Earth. In that case, the child would not have been alone,
and burial near the Looking Glass hardly would have been the middle of
nowhere. The river was a major highway for a nomadic people. "People
were buried where they lived and where they traveled," said Pavlat, 54,
who has participated in numerous reinterments. A new burial site has not
yet been chosen for the child, although tribal land in Mount Pleasant is
possible. First, the body will have to be transferred from MSU to the
Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance.
There is no timetable for that. The ceremony, though, is sure to be
simple, Pavlat said. Food likely will be offered to the spirit of the
child and others. There will be fire and drums. The native word "de"
means heart and is found within the word for fire, "ish-ko-de." "Each of
us in our heart carry a fire," Pavlat said. De also is found in the word
for drum, "de' we-igan." "It's the heartbeat of our people. It's the
heartbeat of ourselves," Pavlat said. "It's the heartbeat of Mother
Earth." Rich in history It is no surprise the child was found in
Portland. The city sits at the confluence of the Looking Glass and Grand
rivers - two major American Indian routes. According to written accounts
from the 1800s and modern history experts, the area had long been the
site of native settlements. Chief Okemos was buried just south of
Portland in 1858, although some locals believe his body has since been
moved to a secret location. Grave robbers tried to ravage the site in
1861 and as recently as the 1950s, local historian and resident Robert
Torp-Smith said. In January, Torp-Smith, 88, visited Okemos' Portland
grave deep on state land at the end of Okemos Road. The wooded spot is
marked by a 3-foot-high boulder etched with the words "Noted Chippewa
Chief." At its base were offerings: an antler, a jawbone, bundled herbs,
polished stones. Torp-Smith stared at the objects, surprised someone
from this century would honor a man from the century before last. "It
feels good," he said. "I think we paid too little attention to the
people who occupied this area before we did." Changing attitudes
Admiration for American Indian culture is decades in coming. Historical
accounts of natives are unflattering. The 1881 "History of Ionia and
Montcalm Counties Michigan" reads: "Their religion was what might have
been expected from their practices, - a mass of senseless and brutal
superstition." Upon hearing the passage, Pavlat laughed. Asked why, he
said: "The alternative is to cry." Pavlat, though, was encouraged by
Torp-Smith's appreciation, and believes attitudes have changed among
most Michigan residents. As reason for hope, he cited how Jeff Brown,
the construction worker who spotted the skull on the construction
conveyer, instinctively strove to rescue it. "He felt a certain
responsibility," Pavlat said. "That's just being a human."
skeleton of mystery child found in Portland
By Christine Rook
A discovery: MSU forensic anthropology grad student Amber Heard and
physical anthropology grad student Jered Cornelison view in November
PORTLAND - For a time perhaps spanning centuries, the Earth kept a small
secret - a child buried out of reach of coyotes and weather and artifact
hunters. Boy? Girl? We'll never know. The bones, uncovered accidentally
in November by construction workers at a site near I-96, reveal only
that they are those of an American Indian about 10 to 12 years old.
Mitochondrial DNA, the genetic material passed exclusively from mother
to infant, recently con-firmed - through testing at MSU - the ethnic
link, and a critical question followed: What should become of the child?
Federal law requiring remains to be returned to local tribes does not
vertisement
<http://gcirm.lsj.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.lsj.com/stories/11\
59175306/ArticleFlex_1/OasDefault/LAN_Comerica_Small_Business/4286SBNWAS\
oar300x250-20k-3l.gif/63326230363932383435643032303130> Federal law
requiring remains to be returned to local tribes does not apply because
the body was found on private land, and there is no superseding state
rule. Though one of the owners of the Portland site intends to turn over
the remains to tribal officials, the bones could have permanently ended
up at a museum or research facility - an outcome that likely would have
upset Michigan's native peoples. "We come from our Earth Mother," said
Cecil Pavlat, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa
Indians. "We go back to her." The remains still are at Michigan State
University and are to be reburied, likely on tribal land to prevent them
from being disturbed again. Defusing tension It will remain a mystery in
which century the original grave was dug or what tribe chose to place it
1,000 feet from the Looking Glass River. Time and circumstance conspired
to erase the obvious clues anthropologists use to determine such things.
MSU's mission was merely to determine whether the child was a recent
homicide victim and if not, whether the remains were native. For
decades, research centers have stored human remains for study. MSU's
collection once represented at least 137 individuals and more than
18,000 funerary objects. The university has made several major
repatriations of human remains and associated funerary objects,
according to William Lovis, curator of anthropology at the MSU museum.
He noted the museum is in full compliance with the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. "It's a sensitive issue
because there is a history of tension between the Native American
community and museums around the country," said Norman Sauer, director
of the university's forensic anthropology lab. "Our response to that
tension has been to cooperate as much as possible." The friction stems,
in part, from cultural differences and the resulting connection native
peoples feel toward ancestral remains. Some Great Lakes tribes and bands
believe that to scatter a person's bones in a laboratory is to scatter
his spirit. "How would you feel if I decided today to study your left
leg?" said Earl Meshigaud, a Potawatomi tribal elder with the
Hannahville Indian Community in the Upper Peninsula. Life, he said, does
not end with death. Bones are not things. Mystery child The child's
skull was almost pulverized into road gravel and lost forever.
Construction workers in November unknowingly uncovered the bones as they
prepped a town home site overlooking the southern bank of the Looking
Glass. A front-end loader scooped the skull with a load of dirt and
dumped it onto a series of crushers, conveyers and screens. The skull
bobbed along and began to crumble, but not before 20-year-old Jeff Brown
of Lyons recognized its distinctly human shape. Work temporarily
stopped, the skull was removed and the child was rescued from the sand.
The burial site seems to have been oddly chosen. It's in the middle of
nowhere, and there are no other graves nearby. But the child's people
may have seen the burial as returning the youngster to Mother or
Grandmother Earth. In that case, the child would not have been alone,
and burial near the Looking Glass hardly would have been the middle of
nowhere. The river was a major highway for a nomadic people. "People
were buried where they lived and where they traveled," said Pavlat, 54,
who has participated in numerous reinterments. A new burial site has not
yet been chosen for the child, although tribal land in Mount Pleasant is
possible. First, the body will have to be transferred from MSU to the
Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance.
There is no timetable for that. The ceremony, though, is sure to be
simple, Pavlat said. Food likely will be offered to the spirit of the
child and others. There will be fire and drums. The native word "de"
means heart and is found within the word for fire, "ish-ko-de." "Each of
us in our heart carry a fire," Pavlat said. De also is found in the word
for drum, "de' we-igan." "It's the heartbeat of our people. It's the
heartbeat of ourselves," Pavlat said. "It's the heartbeat of Mother
Earth." Rich in history It is no surprise the child was found in
Portland. The city sits at the confluence of the Looking Glass and Grand
rivers - two major American Indian routes. According to written accounts
from the 1800s and modern history experts, the area had long been the
site of native settlements. Chief Okemos was buried just south of
Portland in 1858, although some locals believe his body has since been
moved to a secret location. Grave robbers tried to ravage the site in
1861 and as recently as the 1950s, local historian and resident Robert
Torp-Smith said. In January, Torp-Smith, 88, visited Okemos' Portland
grave deep on state land at the end of Okemos Road. The wooded spot is
marked by a 3-foot-high boulder etched with the words "Noted Chippewa
Chief." At its base were offerings: an antler, a jawbone, bundled herbs,
polished stones. Torp-Smith stared at the objects, surprised someone
from this century would honor a man from the century before last. "It
feels good," he said. "I think we paid too little attention to the
people who occupied this area before we did." Changing attitudes
Admiration for American Indian culture is decades in coming. Historical
accounts of natives are unflattering. The 1881 "History of Ionia and
Montcalm Counties Michigan" reads: "Their religion was what might have
been expected from their practices, - a mass of senseless and brutal
superstition." Upon hearing the passage, Pavlat laughed. Asked why, he
said: "The alternative is to cry." Pavlat, though, was encouraged by
Torp-Smith's appreciation, and believes attitudes have changed among
most Michigan residents. As reason for hope, he cited how Jeff Brown,
the construction worker who spotted the skull on the construction
conveyer, instinctively strove to rescue it. "He felt a certain
responsibility," Pavlat said. "That's just being a human."