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Title The Discovery of Human Remains in |
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Author
Contact Information: sharoncearley350@hotmail.com |
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Abstract
public records, refine the data
for mapable coordinates, organize into electronic format, and using ESRI
software geocode to a simple map of |
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Introduction Native American heritage commission was formed in 1977. NAHC has as its mission focus:
consultations between tribes and state,
federal and local agencies and developers regarding Native American
human remains, religious and ceremonial resources and sites, and to identify
the most likely descendants of burial
finds. Presently databases maintained are the Sacred Lands Inventory and
Request for Assistance. NAHC does not keep information as spatial statistics. The NAHC needs to have sites of recovered remains mapped
for use as presentation value and to give information about trends of locations,
the topological relationships between sites and the sacred lands, and as a predictor
for future human remains being found. I conducted research on behalf of the Native American
Heritage Commission as a class project to record spatial data on Native
American burial discoveries in joined it with data on most likely descendant, final disposition, and the relationship to sacred land sites, converting it to a compatible format to use by ArcGIS software. My intention for this project was to be of service to the Native American Community by providing a technology to the NAHC that was perceived as needed. |
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Background A new law protects information that could reveal locations
of tribal burial grounds and other sacred sites in don’t think those sites really
need to be written about in the newspaper.” he was quoted in an article of
the Sacramento News and Review (Garvin, Cosmo. What lies beneath-From
Prehistoric Cultures to Pioneer Artifacts. officially recorded. Both state
and federal governments have recognized the importance of protecting our
cultural resources. Federal laws govern the operations of Agencies such as
the US Department of Fish and Game, The USGS, and the Department of Forestry.
Some of the 6254: 65092: Public
notice to California Native American Indian Tribes 65351,
65352.3-65352.4:Consultations with Native Americans on General Plan Proposals
65560,65562.5:Consultations with Native Americans on Open Space
50280-50290:Mills Act (Historical Property Contracts) These codes provide the process
for consultations, notifications and negotiations for public agencies and
private owners to provide California Native American Tribes their rights to
preserve the cultural sites and the return of discovered remains. The map
below is from an internet site mapping inexact locations of threatened sites
in |
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Methods To preserve privacy I was asked to obtain the records of
human remains discoveries for public record. After many phone calls, emails
and two faxes and a trip to the Coroners office, 4800 Broadway, I acquired a
typed three page list of locations from the |
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Resources from
internet websites of ArcGIS 9
Software ESRI Google Earth Microsoft Excel, Word, Imaging Hp Scanjet 2300 My research and work was based on the databases being kept
by the NAHC. Their data is collected for tribal contacts and from the county coroner’s
office. These are the forms used for recoding the information. Data received
from
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Results The actual data is available
only to the Native American Heritage Commission due to Privacy laws. Below is
an example of the raw data I received from the coroner and that I turned into
a data base file. The map that I have created using GIS will aid the NAHC in
advanced to the use of this technology to further the mission. The greatest
urgency they have is the notification of the most likely descendents of the
human remains found. Most likely those remains are Nisenan, Maidu, or Miwok,
but they could be from tribes with their ancestral land s origination from
other parts of |
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A representation of the sites of discoveries of Native American human remains populated in a table for preparation of conversion to mapable locations. |
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Population of Native Americans in |
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Analysis Human remains are
found in places where it is difficult to be precise about coordinates (in the
rivers, in open areas away from present streets, and undeveloped construction
sites.) The NAHC is obligated to keep information private about Cultural Resources
and it was requested that the locations be obtained through available public
information sources. It was necessary in working with Public Agencies to acquire
the data to work with the agencies timeframes. The specific information on
burial sites acquired and mapped will be kept confidential, not published, in
compliance with State and Federal laws and per agreement between myself, Executive
Secretary of the NAHC, Larry Miles and |
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Conclusions These are areas which have been, and often continue to be,
of economic and/or religious significance to peoples today. The study and
preservation of |
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References Olsen, William H. History of
a Owens, Kenneth - 1979
Historical Overview and Historical Sites of the Mother Lode Area. Submitted
to BLM, Folsom District. Survey Manual
www.usgs.gov/usgs-manual/500/500-6 CNAHC website http://ceres.ca.gov/nahc |
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