Lincoln (Neb.) - Sept. 7, 2001 - A dedication ceremony for a Native American memorial at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is set for 10:30 a.m. Oct. 2 north of the Nebraska East Union. Chancellor Harvey Perlman has invited representatives of 16 Native American tribes of the Great Plains to participate in the joint dedication.
The event will feature a formal welcome by Charles Wilson, chair of the NU board of regents, and remarks by tribal representatives and Perlman. The group will jointly dedicate a memorial stone and plaque. The stone is a natural granitic boulder weighing 7.5 tons.
Former Nebraska Chancellor James Moeser signed an agreement with the 16 tribes on Sept. 1, 1998, to erect a memorial near the location of a former campus veterinary incinerator in which Native American remains were burned in the 1960s. The remains had been part of the archaeological research collections of the university that were ordered discarded by the former chair of the department of anthropology.
The university began soliciting input on the memorial design in 1998 from representatives of 16 tribes, Native American spiritual leaders, and members of UNITE, the University of Nebraska Inter-Tribal Exchange, a Native American student organization.
At a May 2000 tribal meeting in Lincoln, the university was asked to erect a simple memorial stone and plaque in place of constructing a more elaborate circular plaza that had been considered as an earlier design. On April 7, 2001, the board of regents passed a resolution in support of the memorial, establishing a protected area at the memorial site in the long range plans of the campus.
"It is our fervent hope that the memorial will be a vivid reminder to all who see it that a profound cultural injustice was done at this site, and that the remains of all persons must be treated with respect," Perlman said.
The special stone for the memorial was chosen in June 2000 by
Priscilla Grew, UNL coordinator for the Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act. The university purchased it from Wenzl Contracting
Corp. in Lincoln.
For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825