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Several tribal leaders are close to repatriating the remains of Native children who died at the Carlisle Indian School. In Washington, Kennewick Man is nearly set to go home after two decades of court battles and challenges by scientists. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) calls for the remains of Native people and ancestors to be brought back home and properly buried. We will discuss current repatriation efforts and asking why it’s important.
Guests:
Russell Eagle Bear (Sičháŋǧu Lakota) – tribal historic preservation officer for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Dr. Chip Cowell – senior curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Jackie Cook (Wenatchi) repatriation specialist for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Break Music: Connections (song) R. Carlos Nakai (artist) Reconnections (album)
Repatriation of native remains is a very painful topic in WV. We view it as grave robbing and stealing of our history. WV according to local tradition is a sacred hunting ground we called heaven so the people buried here, whether of a local tribe or not, wanted to be buried here. Many will have travelled great distances to die with our forefathers in this place. When their remains and graves are removed, it represents a literal scouring of the ground to remove all evidence of our forefathers’ existence. The official take on history of all of WV is that it was kept as a hunting ground either by the Iriquois federation north of the greater kanawha river and by the Cherokee south of the greater kanawha river. Yet another tribe existed in between the two nations which took in many native Americans throughout the historic period. It is this tribe from whom the repatriated remains are stollen. Locally, it is believed that these remains should be reburried if they must be moved, in the nearest general or local grave yard. The Smithsonian should return the mound buried people as well. These people wanted to die and be buried in heaven. Their remains should not have been moved, and they should be re-entered in the nearest graveyard to their original resting place. The removal of the dead from WV furthers the government and nonlocal landowners’ claims that there were never any indigenous people in southern WV, at least during the historic period. This position has been used historically to confiscate the land that these foreign (nonWV) landowners now hold to the detriment of the local wilderness community.
PS. The Navajo nation should attack the urban outfitters trademark by arguing that it is misdescriptive of geographic origin. That argument does not require the place to engage in commerce but just that it is well known.