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Vol.7, No 38, November 3, 1999 
[news]

Tribal remains may head home

By Johnna Walker
Daily Forty-Niner

The Cal State Long Beach Repatriation Committee decided Monday to re-evaluate which tribe should claim the remains of American Indians currently in CSULB's possession.

The committee met last week to establish a process that would return these remains to their native land.

"The important issue is that we work together to get our ancestors back home," said Lillian Robles, an American-Indian elder on the committee.

On Wednesday the committee, which comprises primarily American Indians, university anthropologists and representatives, discussed the next step CSULB needs to take to get the artifacts back to their native land.

The tribal affiliation of the remains must be included in an inventory of the artifacts, completed by the university, which would begin the process.

CSULB officials are required to complete this inventory for it to be considered an official document under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, said Diana Wilson, a committee member.

The inventory must be completed before the return of these artifacts is possible, Wilson said.

The list is almost complete, according to committee members.

The only space left to be filled in is the section asking for the specific "cultural identity" of the remains being sought by the committee, said Dan Larson, CSULB professor of anthropology.

The committee previously decided to identify the remains as Gabrieleno, a local American-Indian group.

"There is no question of Gabrieleno affiliation, only possible additions to the affiliation," said Anthony Rivera, a representative of the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians.

Martin Acala, chairman for the Gabrieleno/Tongva Indians of California Tribal Council, along with Rivera and Dwight Manual, chairman of the Repatriation Committee, agreed Monday to determine the wording of the affiliation that will appear on the inventory.

"Our goal is not to facilitate boundaries, but to facilitate the process of repatriation," said Keith Polakoff, a university representative on the committee.

Polakoff, Larson and committee member Troy Johnson all agree the affiliation is strictly an issue that should be decided by American Indians.

Despite the outcome, they said they would support the tribes in whatever decision they make.

The inventory will be sent to the National Park Service early next year.

A petition for an archeological collection must also be sent with the list.

The petition also requests that the federal government returns remains and artifacts recovered from lands certain American-Indian tribes inhabited.

 

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