"We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God." -
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
Friday, June 15, 2007
Smithsonian to turn over Native American remains
By Les Blumenthal McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - The skeletal remains of six members of the Nisqually tribe are stored in wooden boxes in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. No one knows their names. No one knows the stories of their lives.
But they're going home soon.
"It is time to put them to final rest," said Carmen Kalama, the vice chairman of the 650-member tribe.
Some of the remains were donated to the Smithsonian 152 years ago after a naturalist working with the Pacific Railroad surveys found them near Fort Steilacoom, the first U.S. fort north of the Columbia River. Another set of remains was originally misidentified as those of Chief Leschi, a Nisqually chief who was hanged outside Fort Steilacoom in 1858, accused of murdering a soldier during a period of tension between the tribe and settlers.
The documents that have accompanied the remains through the years provide only sketchy information. Documents that may have shed more light were lost in a fire in 1865.
Since the passage of a federal law in 1989, the Smithsonian has "repatriated" or offered to return nearly one-third of the 18,000 sets of skeletal remains of Native Americans it has in its care. The process isn't simple, sometimes requiring months of research to ensure that the remains are returned to the appropriate tribe.
"There is a lot of detective work involved," said William Billeck, who manages the museum's repatriation office.
Most of the forensic work is old school. The age of the remains can be determined by skeletal changes such as bones fusing together or the growth of teeth. Sex can be determined by inspecting the pelvis or assessing the "robustness" of the skeleton.
Newer techniques such as DNA and radio-carbon dating aren't used.
"We don't do any destructive testing," Billeck said.
Click here to read full story: http://redwebz.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2299
WASHINGTON - The skeletal remains of six members of the Nisqually tribe are stored in wooden boxes in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. No one knows their names. No one knows the stories of their lives.
But they're going home soon.
"It is time to put them to final rest," said Carmen Kalama, the vice chairman of the 650-member tribe.
Some of the remains were donated to the Smithsonian 152 years ago after a naturalist working with the Pacific Railroad surveys found them near Fort Steilacoom, the first U.S. fort north of the Columbia River. Another set of remains was originally misidentified as those of Chief Leschi, a Nisqually chief who was hanged outside Fort Steilacoom in 1858, accused of murdering a soldier during a period of tension between the tribe and settlers.
The documents that have accompanied the remains through the years provide only sketchy information. Documents that may have shed more light were lost in a fire in 1865.
Since the passage of a federal law in 1989, the Smithsonian has "repatriated" or offered to return nearly one-third of the 18,000 sets of skeletal remains of Native Americans it has in its care. The process isn't simple, sometimes requiring months of research to ensure that the remains are returned to the appropriate tribe.
"There is a lot of detective work involved," said William Billeck, who manages the museum's repatriation office.
Most of the forensic work is old school. The age of the remains can be determined by skeletal changes such as bones fusing together or the growth of teeth. Sex can be determined by inspecting the pelvis or assessing the "robustness" of the skeleton.
Newer techniques such as DNA and radio-carbon dating aren't used.
"We don't do any destructive testing," Billeck said.
Click here to read full story: http://redwebz.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2299
Today in history -
1742: According to some reports, a conference regarding friendship and land cessions was held for the next four days between representatives of the British in New York and the "SIX NATIONS."
1873: SIOUX Indians attack Fort Abraham Lincoln, in central North Dakota, again. The garrison repels the Indians.
1873: SIOUX Indians attack Fort Abraham Lincoln, in central North Dakota, again. The garrison repels the Indians.
Talk's cheap, so settle land claims
By Lorrie Goldstein - Toronto Sun commentator
Here's the thing about settling native land claims.
What Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced yesterday as a better, faster, more independent process for resolving them, isn't what we need. Nor is the government's promise to set aside $250 million a year for 10 years to settle them.
What we need is results -- actual, settled claims.
If the process Harper has proposed of having impartial judges make decisions on land claims where negotiations break down works, fine. Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine was certainly enthusiastic.
But Canadians have heard promises of breakthroughs on such issues before, only to be disappointed.
This time, Harper's proposed bill, to be co-written by the AFN, will have to get through a bitterly divided minority Parliament in the fall.
Between now and then comes a National Day of Action by the AFN on June 29. Fontaine has urged peaceful demonstrations to highlight native issues, but at least one chief has threatened to block rail lines.
Such antics will only undermine public sympathy for aboriginal people, lowering public pressure on politicians to do anything -- a cycle which repeats itself over and over again.
It has to stop. We must settle land claims with Canada's original inhabitants once and for all, quickly and fairly.
Aboriginals should not have to wait an average of 13 years to get one of 800 outstanding claims resolved.
It's unfair to them. It's unfair to communities such as Caledonia, Ont., which are held hostage when aboriginals take the law into their own hands to protest the slow or non-existent pace of land negotiations, while gutless politicians avert their eyes and do nothing.
Appeasing law-breakers out of misguided notions of political correctness isn't the answer. Quickly and fairly settling land claims is -- while showing zero tolerance for law-breaking.
Then we need to find out where the $10 billion we spend annually on aboriginal issues is going. It's certainly not delivering $10 billion a year worth of a better quality of life to Canada's aboriginals.
All Canadians, native and non-native, deserve better. Now.
Here's the thing about settling native land claims.
What Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced yesterday as a better, faster, more independent process for resolving them, isn't what we need. Nor is the government's promise to set aside $250 million a year for 10 years to settle them.
What we need is results -- actual, settled claims.
If the process Harper has proposed of having impartial judges make decisions on land claims where negotiations break down works, fine. Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine was certainly enthusiastic.
But Canadians have heard promises of breakthroughs on such issues before, only to be disappointed.
This time, Harper's proposed bill, to be co-written by the AFN, will have to get through a bitterly divided minority Parliament in the fall.
Between now and then comes a National Day of Action by the AFN on June 29. Fontaine has urged peaceful demonstrations to highlight native issues, but at least one chief has threatened to block rail lines.
Such antics will only undermine public sympathy for aboriginal people, lowering public pressure on politicians to do anything -- a cycle which repeats itself over and over again.
It has to stop. We must settle land claims with Canada's original inhabitants once and for all, quickly and fairly.
Aboriginals should not have to wait an average of 13 years to get one of 800 outstanding claims resolved.
It's unfair to them. It's unfair to communities such as Caledonia, Ont., which are held hostage when aboriginals take the law into their own hands to protest the slow or non-existent pace of land negotiations, while gutless politicians avert their eyes and do nothing.
Appeasing law-breakers out of misguided notions of political correctness isn't the answer. Quickly and fairly settling land claims is -- while showing zero tolerance for law-breaking.
Then we need to find out where the $10 billion we spend annually on aboriginal issues is going. It's certainly not delivering $10 billion a year worth of a better quality of life to Canada's aboriginals.
All Canadians, native and non-native, deserve better. Now.
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