Post by blackcrowheart on Mar 18, 2008 11:14:27 GMT -5
Are Huntington Beach homes sitting on ancient burial ground? 174
American Indian bone fragments were uncovered on the Brighthingyer
Hearthside Homes site, which is slated to become a residential
community.
www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1988296.php
<http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1988296.php>
HUNTINGTON BEACH - Archeologists have unearthed 174 ancient American
Indian remains, half of them found over the last 18 months on a site at
Bolsa Chica Mesa slated to become a residential community, according to
California Native American Heritage Commission officials.
The discovery of hundreds of mysterious cogged stones and now human bone
fragments that are up to 8,500 years old confirms decades-long rumors
that the Brighthingyer Hearthside Homes site is an ancient burial ground
of international importance, said Dave Singleton, a program analyst with
the Native American Heritage Commission.
The land was once shared by the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians and
Gabrieleno-Tongva, Singleton said. In addition, he said, the site was
possibly a ceremonial area. The 400 cogged stones found in and around
the site are considered ceremonial objects by both tribes and were
buried with the deceased, he said.
Since the 1970s, activists and tribal members have pushed for
preservation of the site that they said belonged to an ancient Indian
village.
After a flurry of lawsuits and heated disputes over a plan to build more
than 300 homes on the site, developer Hearthside Homes won permission to
build as long as any discovered remains were reinterred elsewhere in the
area. Archeologists have worked at the location for decades, but details
about the scope of the find haven't emerged until now.
About eight years ago, Hearthside Homes acknowledged isolated findings
of American Indian remains on the site but didn't file a summary report
about the last 87 bone fragments until November. Human remains can mean
whole sets or a single fragment belonging to a person. The report, filed
with the commission, was written by Nancy Wiley, the lead archeologist
who works for the developer.
Flossie Horgan, executive director of The Bolsa Chica Land Trust, said
the developer should have made the findings public when the large
numbers of bone fragments surfaced.
She called the lack of disclosure a "cover-up" and said the
development's future may have been different if the California Coastal
Commission had known the significance of the site.
Hearthside Homes broke ground on the project on June 2006 after gaining
state approval.
"The public has a right to know what is going on here," said Horgan,
whose group seeks to preserve open space.
The developer did not return multiple calls for comment on this story.
Wiley's report also stated that thousands of artifacts were found on the
site and that 83 pre-historical features were discovered alongside the
last 87 remains, Singleton said. Most of these items were found during
grading for the project. Wiley could not be reached for comment.
Joyce Perry, a Juaneño leader who has worked as a monitor on the
site, said her policy is not to disclose the burial ground to the public
as a way to protect the ancestors. Developers hire monitors who keep
watch over sites as they are excavated.
Perry said archeologists found the first 87 bone fragments little by
little over the last 30 years. Those have been reburied, she said. The
last 87 remains were uncovered in the last 18 months and are scheduled
to be reburied this spring or summer.
"We've worked cooperatively with the land owner over many decades to
assure the ancestors are taken care of with dignity and respect," said
Perry, who has worked off and on as a monitor for 15 years. "That's very
important because we've never worked with more sensitive landowners than
Hearthside Homes."
Others disagree.
Singleton said the developer should simply not have built on the site.
The site may have links to some sacred sites along the Chilean coast
where, he said, similar-looking cogged stones have been found.
"Obviously this is a burial ground and ceremonial site of international
importance," he said. "First the Native American Heritage Commission ..
in all the letters… recommended avoidance. That means 'don't build
it.' That's our opinion but the law is another thing."
State law allows the developer to mitigate for the proposed development
of the land and move the remains to another site in the area.
Singleton said he is unsure if the developer has been expeditiously
reburying the remains, stating that much time has passed since the
excavation of the last 87 bone fragments. In addition, he said he's
concerned about the remains and grave goods getting adequate care.
The commission appointed two most likely descendants of the two tribes
to keep watch on construction and consult with the developer on how to
treat ancient human remains.
One of those most likely descendants, Anthony Morales, a
Gabrieleno-Tongva, said the remains are, for the most part, handled well
but he's had to take on the developer on a few points.
In one instance, Morales said the developer tried to exclude him from
viewing the handling of a portion of remains.
"I had to call the Coastal Commission and strong-arm them," Morales
said.
He said he eventually got Hearthside Homes to comply.
Though the developer isn't legally bound to release information about
the findings, some preservation activists and archeologists say they are
ethically responsible to make significant discoveries public.
"It's very sad. If this were a cemetery where our people are buried,
we'd be outraged,'' Horgan said. "Taking bodies out of the ground and
putting them in trailers to build McMansions on a sacred site is not
appropriate."
Still, some tribal members want information about their ancestors
remains kept secret and protected from intrusion.
"We would ask that the turmoil and controversy surrounding these
ancestors stop and let us lay the final ones to rest," Perry said. "We
don't want the ancestors to be used any longer for anyone's political
gain.
"It's a 30-year battle. We want these ancestors to be laid to rest with
no controversy surrounding them."
American Indian bone fragments were uncovered on the Brighthingyer
Hearthside Homes site, which is slated to become a residential
community.
www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1988296.php
<http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1988296.php>
HUNTINGTON BEACH - Archeologists have unearthed 174 ancient American
Indian remains, half of them found over the last 18 months on a site at
Bolsa Chica Mesa slated to become a residential community, according to
California Native American Heritage Commission officials.
The discovery of hundreds of mysterious cogged stones and now human bone
fragments that are up to 8,500 years old confirms decades-long rumors
that the Brighthingyer Hearthside Homes site is an ancient burial ground
of international importance, said Dave Singleton, a program analyst with
the Native American Heritage Commission.
The land was once shared by the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians and
Gabrieleno-Tongva, Singleton said. In addition, he said, the site was
possibly a ceremonial area. The 400 cogged stones found in and around
the site are considered ceremonial objects by both tribes and were
buried with the deceased, he said.
Since the 1970s, activists and tribal members have pushed for
preservation of the site that they said belonged to an ancient Indian
village.
After a flurry of lawsuits and heated disputes over a plan to build more
than 300 homes on the site, developer Hearthside Homes won permission to
build as long as any discovered remains were reinterred elsewhere in the
area. Archeologists have worked at the location for decades, but details
about the scope of the find haven't emerged until now.
About eight years ago, Hearthside Homes acknowledged isolated findings
of American Indian remains on the site but didn't file a summary report
about the last 87 bone fragments until November. Human remains can mean
whole sets or a single fragment belonging to a person. The report, filed
with the commission, was written by Nancy Wiley, the lead archeologist
who works for the developer.
Flossie Horgan, executive director of The Bolsa Chica Land Trust, said
the developer should have made the findings public when the large
numbers of bone fragments surfaced.
She called the lack of disclosure a "cover-up" and said the
development's future may have been different if the California Coastal
Commission had known the significance of the site.
Hearthside Homes broke ground on the project on June 2006 after gaining
state approval.
"The public has a right to know what is going on here," said Horgan,
whose group seeks to preserve open space.
The developer did not return multiple calls for comment on this story.
Wiley's report also stated that thousands of artifacts were found on the
site and that 83 pre-historical features were discovered alongside the
last 87 remains, Singleton said. Most of these items were found during
grading for the project. Wiley could not be reached for comment.
Joyce Perry, a Juaneño leader who has worked as a monitor on the
site, said her policy is not to disclose the burial ground to the public
as a way to protect the ancestors. Developers hire monitors who keep
watch over sites as they are excavated.
Perry said archeologists found the first 87 bone fragments little by
little over the last 30 years. Those have been reburied, she said. The
last 87 remains were uncovered in the last 18 months and are scheduled
to be reburied this spring or summer.
"We've worked cooperatively with the land owner over many decades to
assure the ancestors are taken care of with dignity and respect," said
Perry, who has worked off and on as a monitor for 15 years. "That's very
important because we've never worked with more sensitive landowners than
Hearthside Homes."
Others disagree.
Singleton said the developer should simply not have built on the site.
The site may have links to some sacred sites along the Chilean coast
where, he said, similar-looking cogged stones have been found.
"Obviously this is a burial ground and ceremonial site of international
importance," he said. "First the Native American Heritage Commission ..
in all the letters… recommended avoidance. That means 'don't build
it.' That's our opinion but the law is another thing."
State law allows the developer to mitigate for the proposed development
of the land and move the remains to another site in the area.
Singleton said he is unsure if the developer has been expeditiously
reburying the remains, stating that much time has passed since the
excavation of the last 87 bone fragments. In addition, he said he's
concerned about the remains and grave goods getting adequate care.
The commission appointed two most likely descendants of the two tribes
to keep watch on construction and consult with the developer on how to
treat ancient human remains.
One of those most likely descendants, Anthony Morales, a
Gabrieleno-Tongva, said the remains are, for the most part, handled well
but he's had to take on the developer on a few points.
In one instance, Morales said the developer tried to exclude him from
viewing the handling of a portion of remains.
"I had to call the Coastal Commission and strong-arm them," Morales
said.
He said he eventually got Hearthside Homes to comply.
Though the developer isn't legally bound to release information about
the findings, some preservation activists and archeologists say they are
ethically responsible to make significant discoveries public.
"It's very sad. If this were a cemetery where our people are buried,
we'd be outraged,'' Horgan said. "Taking bodies out of the ground and
putting them in trailers to build McMansions on a sacred site is not
appropriate."
Still, some tribal members want information about their ancestors
remains kept secret and protected from intrusion.
"We would ask that the turmoil and controversy surrounding these
ancestors stop and let us lay the final ones to rest," Perry said. "We
don't want the ancestors to be used any longer for anyone's political
gain.
"It's a 30-year battle. We want these ancestors to be laid to rest with
no controversy surrounding them."