WHAT IF IT WAS YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S GRAVE?
by Al Swilling, Founder, 
SENAA International
   

How would you feel if you went to the cemetery to put flowers on your grandmother's grave only to find that someone had dug her up and had not only stolen the favorite ring and necklace that she was buried with, but had also taken her skull and various other bones as souvenirs?

How would you feel if you went to pay your respects to your grandmother at her grave site; but when you arrived, you found a construction crew paving over the site, or building a building or sewage dump over her grave? How would you feel if you had to witness bulldozers scraping away her grave, breaking up her remains and loading them onto a truck to be used as fill dirt for a parking lot or a landscaping project?

That is exactly what Indigenous Americans are faced with every day somewhere in the United States. Indigenous burials are destroyed without a second thought. At the same time, if anyone desecrates the grave of a non-Indigenous person, or even the grave of a beloved pet of such a person, the violator is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

If Indigenous American graves are desecrated, there is no remorse, no feelings of regret, and no words of apology or comfort go out to the descendants of the people buried there. Instead, developers usually trivialize the matter and take the offensive, acting as though the families of the deceased have wronged them by complaining unjustly and causing delays in the developer's schedule. The developers then seek the ruling of a local, state, or federal judge to allow them to continue to obliterate the graves and all traces of their existence for the sake of "progress." There has even been one case where one state has offered to "make the burials disappear" if the developer would pay the state a certain fee. It is the rule rather than the exception that such vandals are given the blessing of the court rather than a prison sentence and fine for grave desecration.

The fact is, grave desecration, possession or sale of Indigenous American cultural or funerary items, and the possession and/or trading of human remains, is not only morally wrong, it is a crime. Whether the act is a felony or a misdemeanor depends upon where the graves are located and whose jurisdiction the site falls under. In some states, grave desecration on state controlled or private land is a class A misdemeanor. If the site is on federal land, it is a felony under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

Below are some of the state and federal laws designed to protect Indigenous American graves and burial objects. I have cited Tennessee state code. Laws in your state might vary. To learn about grave protection laws in your state, visit your local library.

There have been motions in the past to strengthen state laws and make the language more specific, but such motions in the state of Tennessee have been largely unsuccessful. Still, we have laws designed to protect human graves and Indigenous American graves in particular.. 
   

FEDERAL LAWS

U.S. Code, Title 18, Chapter 53, Section 1170 

Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act--Illegal Trafficking in Native American Human Remains and Cultural Items

(a) Whoever knowingly sells, purchases, uses for profit, or transports for sale or profit, the human remains of a Native American without the right of possession to those remains as provided in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act shall be fined in accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more than 12 months, or both, and in the case of a second or subsequent violation, be fined in accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

(b) Whoever knowingly sells, purchases, uses for profit, or transports for sale or profit any Native American cultural items obtained in violation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act shall be fined in accordance with this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both, and in the case of a second or subsequent violation, be fined in accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
   

TENNESSEE STATE LAW (Laws in other states will vary. Go to your public library or law library and study the cemetery and Native American grave protection laws provided by your state.)

11-6-105. Excavation of State Lands--Permits--Unauthorized Excavation Penalty.

Any and all artifacts and material excavated by such person or organization [upon lands owned or controlled by the state or any agency thereof] shall be forfeited to the state and shall be delivered forthwith to the division or archaeology.

11-6-106. Defacement of Sites or Artifacts--Misdemeanor

In order that sites and artifacts on state-owned or controlled land shall be protected for the benefit of the public, it is hereby made a misdemeanor for any person, natural or corporate, to write upon, carve upon, paint, deface, mutilate, destroy, or otherwise injure any object of antiquity, artifact, Indian painting, Indian carving, or sites; and all such acts of vandalism shall be punished as misdemeanors according to the provisions of this chapter.

11-6-107. Discovery of Sites, Artifacts or Human Remains

(a) All state agencies, departments, institutions and commissions, as well as all counties and municipalities, shall cooperate fully with the division of archaeology... 

(d)(1) Any person who encounters or accidentally disturbs or disinters human remains on either publicly or privately owned land, except during excavations authorized under this chapter, shall: 

(A) Immediately cease disturbing the ground in the area of the human remains; and 
   
(B) Notify either the coroner or the medical examiner, and a local law enforcement agency...

     (5) A person who violates subdivision (d)(1)(A) or (B) commits a Class A misdemeanor.

11-6-109. Private Land--Trespass, Vandalism, & Unauthorized Activities--Permission-- Artifacts

(c) No person, corporation, partnership, association or any other entity shall sell, offer to sell, purchase or offer to purchase or otherwise exchange any artifact from a site listed in the Tennessee register of archaeological sites if the artifact has been removed or received in violation of this section. [applies to "found" burial objects.]

11-6-116. Excavation of Areas Containing Native American Indian Human Remains.

(a) When a burial ground or other area containing human remains of Native American Indians is excavated, representatives of Native American Indians shall have a right to be present on the site at all times excavation or treatment of such remains is taking place.

11-6-117. Display of Native American Indian Human Remains

There shall be no public exhibition or display of Native American Indian human remains, except as evidence in a judicial proceeding.
   

REPORT VIOLATIONS OF THESE LAWS

If you have information about a suspected Native American burial site, or if you know of someone in possession of Native American artifacts, especially burial items (other than arrowheads, which are not illegal to possess), or human remains, or if you know of someone who is digging up or selling artifacts or burial objects, please notify SENAA International or local tribal authorities in your area. Your identity will be held in strictest confidence.