Post by blackcrowheart on Jun 17, 2007 22:19:25 GMT -5
Arcata resident convicted in Tsurai Village artifact-theft case
Jessie Faulkner The Times-Standard
EUREKA -- Patience and a fair amount of collaboration led to the conviction Thursday of Taylor Lang Cornejo, 26, of Arcata on charges of obtaining American Indian artifacts and remains from a site and destruction of an Indian burial site.
Both offenses occurred at the Tsurai Village site at the south edge of Trinidad.
The Trinidad Police Department, the Tsurai Ancestral Society and the Yurok Tribe worked together on the 6-month investigation that led to Cornejo's arrest at the site in December. Trinidad police were alerted on Dec. 19 that someone was at the site, Trinidad Police Chief Kenneth Thrailkill said Thursday.
Officer Jana Deck took Parker Creek trail to Old Home Beach and came up behind the suspect where she was able to observe him digging in the ground without his knowledge. A subsequent search of his Arcata home, Thrailkill said, revealed a number of Indian artifacts, believed to be from this area.
At a joint news conference Friday morning representatives from the three entities gathered to announce the Cornejo's conviction and sentence. The 26-year-old Arcata man was sentenced to two years of probation, 200 hours of community service, ordered to write a letter of apology to the Tsurai
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Ancestral Society (comprised of lineal descendants of the village) and banned from any Yurok ancestral land from Moonstone Beach north to the Humboldt-Del Norte county line. That includes public lands in the state and national parks.
In addition, Cornejo was ordered to pay restitution to the Yurok Tribe. The Tribe is still putting that budget together, according to Tom Gates of the tribe's Cultural Department. The amount of the restitution can be figured two ways - the archaelogical cost of excavation a like amount of soil that was disturbed during the crime or the Yurok Tribe's cost in dealing with this incident, according to Gates.
In a statement issued Friday, Yurok Tribe said it was satisfied with the conviction and accompanying sentence.
”The tribe is saddened that someone would intentionally desecrate our burial site,” said Yurok Chairperson Maria Tripp. “These sites are a link to our history, our culture and our identity as the original people of this area.”
Axel Lindgren III, who first approached Thrailkill about ongoing disturbance at the site in May 2006, thanked Thrailkill and Deck for their efforts to arrest Cornejo as well as Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and Judge Chris Wilson for taking the case as far as they did given what they had.
However, Lindgren had less-than-kind words for state legislators who allowed these violations to remain at the misdemeanor level. In the past, Lindgren said, there was one incident when a skull was found in a Washington state home, kept in a bowling ball bag marked as Tsurai.
If someone was found digging in the city's cemetery and removing jewelry or bones, the subsequent convictions will certainly be more than a misdemeanor, he said.
Trinidad Mayor Chi-Wei Lin said Thursday that the city is in the process of drafting an ordinance that will make it an arrestable offense to be on the village site and will come with a sizable fine.
Thrailkill also noted that the site will be carefully watched and anyone with information about disturbances at the site is encouraged to contact the police department.
The Yurok Tribe is also active in monitoring the site, according to Gene Brundin, chairperson of the Native American Graves, Protection and Repatriation Act committee.
Brundin called on the public to report any suspicious activity in or adjacent to the village site and become better educated about the importance of the site. Cultural monitors will be keeping tabs on the area as well.
Thrailkill assured the audience that his department will continue its vigorous protection of the site. Those who may know of someone in possession of Tsurai artifacts may contact that police department anonymously.
Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0517 or jfaulkner@times-standard.com.
Jessie Faulkner The Times-Standard
EUREKA -- Patience and a fair amount of collaboration led to the conviction Thursday of Taylor Lang Cornejo, 26, of Arcata on charges of obtaining American Indian artifacts and remains from a site and destruction of an Indian burial site.
Both offenses occurred at the Tsurai Village site at the south edge of Trinidad.
The Trinidad Police Department, the Tsurai Ancestral Society and the Yurok Tribe worked together on the 6-month investigation that led to Cornejo's arrest at the site in December. Trinidad police were alerted on Dec. 19 that someone was at the site, Trinidad Police Chief Kenneth Thrailkill said Thursday.
Officer Jana Deck took Parker Creek trail to Old Home Beach and came up behind the suspect where she was able to observe him digging in the ground without his knowledge. A subsequent search of his Arcata home, Thrailkill said, revealed a number of Indian artifacts, believed to be from this area.
At a joint news conference Friday morning representatives from the three entities gathered to announce the Cornejo's conviction and sentence. The 26-year-old Arcata man was sentenced to two years of probation, 200 hours of community service, ordered to write a letter of apology to the Tsurai
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ancestral Society (comprised of lineal descendants of the village) and banned from any Yurok ancestral land from Moonstone Beach north to the Humboldt-Del Norte county line. That includes public lands in the state and national parks.
In addition, Cornejo was ordered to pay restitution to the Yurok Tribe. The Tribe is still putting that budget together, according to Tom Gates of the tribe's Cultural Department. The amount of the restitution can be figured two ways - the archaelogical cost of excavation a like amount of soil that was disturbed during the crime or the Yurok Tribe's cost in dealing with this incident, according to Gates.
In a statement issued Friday, Yurok Tribe said it was satisfied with the conviction and accompanying sentence.
”The tribe is saddened that someone would intentionally desecrate our burial site,” said Yurok Chairperson Maria Tripp. “These sites are a link to our history, our culture and our identity as the original people of this area.”
Axel Lindgren III, who first approached Thrailkill about ongoing disturbance at the site in May 2006, thanked Thrailkill and Deck for their efforts to arrest Cornejo as well as Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and Judge Chris Wilson for taking the case as far as they did given what they had.
However, Lindgren had less-than-kind words for state legislators who allowed these violations to remain at the misdemeanor level. In the past, Lindgren said, there was one incident when a skull was found in a Washington state home, kept in a bowling ball bag marked as Tsurai.
If someone was found digging in the city's cemetery and removing jewelry or bones, the subsequent convictions will certainly be more than a misdemeanor, he said.
Trinidad Mayor Chi-Wei Lin said Thursday that the city is in the process of drafting an ordinance that will make it an arrestable offense to be on the village site and will come with a sizable fine.
Thrailkill also noted that the site will be carefully watched and anyone with information about disturbances at the site is encouraged to contact the police department.
The Yurok Tribe is also active in monitoring the site, according to Gene Brundin, chairperson of the Native American Graves, Protection and Repatriation Act committee.
Brundin called on the public to report any suspicious activity in or adjacent to the village site and become better educated about the importance of the site. Cultural monitors will be keeping tabs on the area as well.
Thrailkill assured the audience that his department will continue its vigorous protection of the site. Those who may know of someone in possession of Tsurai artifacts may contact that police department anonymously.
Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0517 or jfaulkner@times-standard.com.