Indian artifacts found in fire debris
Millions of tons of debris have been cleared in Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties following the devastation of October’s wildfires, mostly the scorched remnants of lost homes, cars, toys and other possessions. But also found among the wreckage have been several long-buried American Indian artifacts, including charm stones and an obsidian arrowhead.
Just how many relics have been found among the more than 2.2 million tons of fire debris that had been removed as of Tuesday, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, is not known. Greg Sarris, chair-
man of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, and Clay Carithers, of the Army Corps of Engineers, confirmed that artifacts had been discovered. But precisely what may have been found and where is a closely held secret.
“When that stuff gets into the press, you ignite grave robbers,” Sarris said. “We’ve had long battles with people and professional archaeologists who feel it’s their right to collect our heritage.”
Carithers echoed Sarris’ caution. He said that the Corps had a “great deal of concern” about amateur Indiana Joneses possibly digging into the debris. Fears of looting of the scene prompted local officials to set a curfew for after 6:45 p.m. in the evacuated part of Santa Rosa even as the fires still burned in October. Two men were arrested that month for carrying burglary tools and driving after the curfew.
“This isn’t like a rampant thing, but I have been advised that people have been rummaging around in places that they shouldn’t be,” Carithers said.
In Sarris’ view, and the view of the tribe, the artifacts should remain exactly where they were found: underground.
“Practically, the hope has been always when we’ve come across skeletal remains or artifacts, that they are reburied as close as possible to where they were found,” Sarris said. “We do the reburial within the area, and we generally don’t tell people. That has a lot to do with our beliefs.”
The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria found themselves in a dispute with a group of archaeologists in 2014, following the discovery of a massive trove of artifacts in Larkspur. Archaeologists wanted to study and catalog the tools, human remains, musical instruments, spears and bear bones found at the site. Much to their chagrin, however, the tribe reburied the entire collection; the site was then paved over for a multimillion-dollar development.
“We’ve been very aggressive about protecting our ancestors and what remains and should remain in the soil.” Greg Sarris, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria chairman
Sarris was angry, too. “How would Jewish or Christian people feel if we wanted to dig up skeletal remains in a cemetery and study them? Nobody has that right,” he told The Chronicle at the time.
American Indian activists and others are involved in a similar battle in West Berkeley, where plans for the development of a parking lot would require unearthing a portion of the site of a former tribal shellmound.
Representatives of three autonomous Ohlone family bands — Confederated Villages of Lisjan, Himre-n-Ohlone, and Medina Family — spent years negotiating with the developer over the size and configuration of the development, but most recently have stated their opposition to any development there, the only empty land remaining at the former shellmound site.
Vincent Medina, a spokesman for the groups, said recently: “Our sacred sites were never given up by our families — not legally, nor in theory. They are not properties or parcel numbers that can be bought and sold. ... Where we draw the line is when you propose to dig up and desecrate the most sacred places where our ancestors are buried.”
So far, in the clearing of the fire debris in the North Bay, Sarris said, there hasn’t been any friction. Members of the tribe monitor work anytime there’s a major construction project in areas known to be sacred sites, he said.
If tribal artifacts are found, contractors stop work to document and investigate to ensure they have removed everything, said Nancy Allen, a spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers. The next steps are coordinated by the tribal monitors, archaeologists, the Army Corps of Engineers and others.
Jelmer Eerkens, a professor of archaeology at UC Davis, said that California was one of the most populous areas in the world prior to contact with European settlers, and there are artifacts all over Sonoma County.
“California had one of the highest population densities in the world of Native Americans pre-contact,” Eerkens said.
He said that in recent years, the archaeological community has tried to do a better job at respecting tribes’ wishes.
“In general, archaeologists would like to curate and put artifacts in a museum, so that we can study them in the future,” Eerkens said. “But at the same time, we’re people and we understand that a lot of tribes find that problematic, so we try more and more to work with tribes in how we practice our profession.”
Sarris said the spiritual implications of reburial are important to the tribe.
“This is the genocide beneath our feet,” he said, “and we’ve been very aggressive about protecting our ancestors and what remains and should remain in the soil.”