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Date: May 14 2001
Via NDN AIM newsgroup:
S.C. tribes want state to release remains
The Associated Press
GREENVILLE -- The state of South Carolina has the remains of more than 100
Native Americans hidden in cardboard boxes and will not release them to
tribal members, The Greenville News reported Sunday.Chiefs of the Cherokee
and Waccamaw tribes, who want to properly bury the remains, say state
leaders are dismissing their heritage.
Burial is a sacred rite to tribes that believe souls cannot rest if
separated from where they lived, died and were buried.The state
archaeologist and officials with the National Park Service say federal law
requires a tribe be recognized before any release can take place.John
Robbins, assistant director of Cultural Resources Stewardship and
Partnerships with the National Parks Service, said the laws state that a
committee of tribal leaders, scientists and museum officials appointed by
the secretary of the U.S. Interior Department can recommend returning
remains when not involved with federally accredited tribes.That has not
happened in South Carolina, the newspaper said.
The Catawba Indian Nation is the state's only sanctioned tribe. The
Waccamaw tribe has been trying for state recognition since 1995.Chief Gene
Norris, of the Piedmont American Indian Association Lower Eastern Cherokee
Nation, and Chief Harold Hatcher, of the Waccamaw tribe, have said members
of the state House of Representatives have been particularly hostile.
"The fact is the leadership in the state has not looked upon these people
with any degree of interest because they have so little clout," said state
Sen. Bob Waldrep, an Anderson Republican who has Cherokee ancestry.Norris
said state leaders could have solved the problem if they wanted to."There's
been a callous disregard for Native Americans in the entire state on every
issue," Norris said. "They don't even recognize us. There are 40,000 of us.
How could it not be callous? When we want something, they don't want to
deal with us."
Many of the American Indian remains come from early in the 20th century
when road or building construction was taking place.Before the late 1700s,
the Cherokee lived in Greenville, Pickens, Oconee and Anderson
counties.Duke Power Co., which built Keowee and Jocassee lakes in the
Upstate, turned remains and artifacts over to the state archaeologist,
company spokeswoman Guynn Savage said.The Charleston Museum, a nonprofit
organization, has the remains of 81 individuals, 65 of whom were found in
1930 at Wachesaw Landing in Georgetown County in urns 18 to 20 feet
underground.
Martha Zierden of the Charleston Museum staff said the museum has had the
remains and artifacts in storage for decades. The museum sent out hundreds
of letters in 1995, and only the Waccamaw and Chicora tribes have
responded, she said.State Archaeologist Jonathan Leader said he would
willingly release the remains, but his hands are tied by the federal Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. He would not say where the
remains, which range from hundreds to thousands of years old, are kept.
Dr. Wenonah Haire, who heads the Catawbas' Cultural Preservation Center,
said the tribe is committed to getting all remains released and properly
buried. She said the tribe faces hurdles in helping non-recognized
tribes."Even if we wanted to have a reburial next week, we could not do
that," she said. "The law says we must take into consideration the other
tribes that had ancestral linkages in South Carolina. It has nothing to do
with state boundaries." Leader said the state would support a common tribal
burial site. Haire said that would not be acceptable.
State legislation to recognize eight South Carolina tribes, including the
Cherokee and Waccamaw, passed the Senate earlier this year, but it is mired
in the House.Waldrep said: "In the House particularly, there is a paranoia
that if they do anything for the Indians, the Indians will have a legal
toehold to do something. They want to make sure they don't do anything for
the Indians."
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
Thanks to Raven for sending this in.
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