Native American remains laid to rest
By ASHLEY TOMPKINS - Tribune City Editor
Friday, August 29, 2008 11:05 AM CDT
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| Members of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma look on as each gravesite is covered, following a private ceremony on Tuesday, in which the remains of 27 Caddo Nation descendents were buried at Edwards Cemetery in Mount Pleasant. TRIBUNE photo by Ashley Tompkins |
The remains of 27 Caddo Nation descendents were laid to rest for a second time this week at Edwards Cemetery, more than 30 years after the first remains were excavated during a Titus County highway expansion project.
Smoke from cedar leaves, used to bless each gravesite and those taking place in the ceremony, filled the air where more than a dozen Caddo Nation, Texas Department of Transportation, City of Mount Pleasant and Titus County representatives gathered to pay their respects.
The re-burial of Caddo Indians is not something the Nation is accustomed to, said LaRue Martin Parker, chairwoman of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.
“We don’t have a set way to re-bury our people because they never had to do that in the olden days,” Parker said. “This would not have been possible a few years ago, but because of new laws, we’re able to reclaim our people and honor them.”
The remains of the 27 individuals were recovered during archeological excavations conducted in 1975 and 2001 in association with the widening of State Highway 49. The remains had been stored in Austin until Tuesday’s ceremony.
Caddo Native American Church Chairman Lyman Kionute conducted the sacred and private ceremony, first burning wood at the cemetery and then mixing those ashes with cedar leaves to create what he called a cleansing smoke.
Bobby Gonzalez, Native American burial coordinator for the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, explained those blessing the new burial sites used cedar leaves to represent life and to ask for forgiveness.
“These ancestors were moved from one area and now put here. We are taught to not ever move the remains of our ancestors,” Gonzalez said. “We use the cedar to bless ourselves, to bless the gravesite and to ask for forgiveness.”
Kionute submerged a lone Eagle feather in the cedar smoke to bless the 27 sites.
Those participating in the ceremony blessed themselves with smoke from the burning cedar leaves before and after burying the 27 small wooden boxes, each filled with the remains and pottery found during excavations more than 30 years ago on land owned then by Alex Justiss. The boxes were later draped in Indian Pendleton blankets.
Gonzalez said the reinterment ceremony was much shorter than today’s burials, which can last several days.
“This reburial is extremely important,” he said. “Northeast Texas is our aboriginal home. As long as they’re building roads, we’re always going to be concerned about them hitting our people. And when they hit our ancestors, we’re going to be concerned because even though we are in Oklahoma, our minds and our culture are still with our people here.”
He thanked the City of Mount Pleasant, TxDOT and Titus County for their cooperation in the project.
Local relic collectors first identified the archeological site on Justiss’ land in the 1950s. The site contains a Caddo cemetery, dating back to the period just prior to European contact.
In the late 1960s, the state’s highway department began planning roadway improvements to SH 49 in Titus County. The National Historic Preservation Act had recently been enacted and required consideration of project impacts to archeological sites, explained Scott Pletka, supervisor of the Archeological Studies Program with the TxDOT.
Justiss’ property, which extended into the existing and proposed right of way for the expansion project, was evaluated in 1973 and first excavated in 1975.
Planned road improvements did not take place and no additional excavations were made until 2001, when the site was evaluated again.
“These excavations recovered 27 sets of human remains or grave goods. While these burials were removed from harm’s way, their final disposition remained to be determined,” Pletka said.
Parker said she and the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma are thankful for recent laws, including the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which requires institutions like TxDOT to consult with appropriate descendent groups regarding the disposition of any Native American burials and grave goods that they recovered.
“We would not be able to hold ceremonies like this if it weren’t for these laws,” Parker said. “We have so many more who are sitting on shelves in colleges and universities, in boxes, in the Smithsonian. People don’t realize they’re our people. They need to be in the ground. It’s not right; it’s not balanced.”
