Liincoln (Neb.)-Sept. 3, 1998-The University of Nebraska Tribal Meeting on Repatriation began with an apology and ended with a historic agreement Sept. 1.
The apology was offered by Chancellor James Moeser as he addressed recent disclosures concerning NU's treatment of Native American remains as well as handling of those remains over the past several decades.
"I want to apologize personally and on behalf of the university for the insensitive and grievous treatment of the physical remains of Native Americans done in past decades in the name of science" Moeser said. "The anger and hurt you feel as a result of this are understandable."
The historic agreement, signed by representatives from at least 14 tribes and five states, was one in which NU agreed to release all the prehistoric and historic Native American remains and burial goods on the inventory of culturally unaffiliated remains held by the university. Within the next four weeks, the university will arrange for examination of records and unaffiliated remains by the tribes. After completion of this research, the university agrees to release the remains within 30 days.
Because federal law currently makes no provision for repatriation of remains lacking a tribal identity, these unaffiliated remains could not, until now, be returned to individual tribes. By coming together collectively to claim these remains as their own, the group of Native American leaders presented the university with a method of changing unidentified remains to ones that could be repatriated. They will be re- interred on lands offered for that purpose by the Omaha tribe.
"This was a precedent-shattering agreement which puts the University of Nebraska in the position of leadership nationally on the issue of repatriation of unaffiliated remains," said Moeser. "But we couldn't have reached this point without the collective leadership of the tribal representatives. They did the hard work."
The university also agreed to set aside and enclose areas on the university's East Campus where it was recently disclosed that an incident occurred between 1965 and 1967 when Native American remains were burned in an incinerator that has since been razed. The university agreed to "erect a suitable memorial under the guidance of those indigenous Nations who wish to work on the project."
Before the day was over, the NU Academic Senate, meeting in regular session that afternoon, gave its support to the agreement.
Helen Long Soldier, an NU counselor and a member of the university's Human Remains and Funerary Compliance committee, said, "As far as I know, it's the first time that this kind of agreement has come so smoothly, and had this many tribal representatives involved in signing it. Other tribes may want to look at this example of how to let things happen."
The agreement concluded a day that began with a broad agenda. After Moeser offered the university's apology at the beginning of the session, the question foremost in the minds of the gathered tribal representatives was "Where do we go from here?"
Before long, it was clear that repatriation of Native American remains was to be the primary focus of the conference, a turn that Moeser accepted without hesitance.
Before the public morning session concluded, the tribal representatives met in a closed session to hammer out a formal proposal.
The proposal was accepted by Moeser on behalf of the university when the open meeting resumed.
Although the agreement itself was made quickly, the sessions preceding formulation of the draft provided representatives of the gathered tribes an opportunity to express their feelings in regard to what they viewed as desecration of the graves of their ancestors.
Allen Hare, representative of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, made it clear that the question of unaffiliated remains was not a question requiring prolonged investigation.
"The unaffiliated remains all come from Mother Earth. They should be returned to nourish the soil, bring food to people," he said.
Louis LaRose of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, noted that a recent survey conducted by the Omaha World-Herald found that 70 percent of Nebraskans want remains and associated artifacts returned.
LaRose, in pleading his case, spoke of restless spirits roaming the earth and the responsibility for returning their disturbed remains to the earth. Andrew Tate of the Northern Ponca Tribe of Nebraska recalled his experiences in helping in reburial of Native American remains. He spoke of the fears of members of other tribes who came to take part in the ceremony. They told of unseen spirit sounds in the night, of babies crying, women wailing, and drums sounding.
The next day, he said, he was moved by the sight of the remains to be interred. "There were bones sawed in half, babies' skulls with holes drilled in them, and numbered tags attached. I saw tears in the eyes of the elders, and I wondered where are the rest of the bones?"
Tears, mostly of joy, were shed by Native Americans as the agreement was signed by Moeser and each tribal representative. Some wept, some nodded and smiled while a blessing was given and a song of celebration was sung.
"Today is one of the greatest days," said Randy Thomas of
the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska. "All the tribes pulled
together and look what we accomplished."
Back to menu
For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons@unlinfo.unl.ed
u
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825