Hamilton County Parks fined for archaeological digs into Native American graves

The Taylor Center of Natural History (cq) at Strawtown Koteewi Park (cq) in Hamilton County. The park has become a rich site for archeological study of residents of the area going back 10,500 years. It is part of the Hamilton County Parks & Recreation system. (Joe Vitti/Indianapolis Star)

The U.S. Department of the Interior has fined the Hamilton County Parks Department for violating a federal law designed to protect Native American graves. 

The $6,533 fine was issued after an IndyStar investigation found that archaeologists and park officials ran roughshod over the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

From 2001 to 2011, archaeologists from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne excavated Native American sites at Strawtown Koteewi Park. They pulled some 500,000 items from the ground, including more than 90,000 artifacts associated with human remains and 200 human bone and teeth samples, and put them in storage for potential study.

The investigation: How a Native American burial site was desecrated in Hamilton County

The archaeologists and park officials failed to notify and consult with tribal leaders during the excavations, as required by federal law. Several Native American tribes filed complaints after learned about the work. In 2013, the Department of the Interior issued two citations. 

"I’m of the opinion that this is one of the most egregious breaches of the NAGRPA act since it was introduced," said George Strack, former preservation officer of the Miami of Oklahoma.

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Strack said he has been contacting the Department of the Interior frequently to ensure the fine would be assessed. He said this is the first fine issued over a NAGPRA violation since 2010 and only $43,000 in fines have been issued since 1992.

Strack thinks the fines should have been higher, as much as $70,000. He thinks more citations should have been issued, and that the length of time it took for the parks department to comply with NAGPRA should have been considered. He thinks the parks department should have paid for expenses incurred by Native American tribes investigating the violations.

"I think they got let off the hook," he said. 

In a prepared statement, Hamilton County Parks Director Al Patterson said the parks department's cooperation and mitigation led the agency to reduce the potential penalty.

Patterson said new guidelines have been implemented to ensure the department complies with the federal law in the future: 

♦ A staff member will oversee archaeological activity and artifact collection on park property. 

♦ The department created a policy to manage archaeological collections, including a procedure for human remains. 

♦ The staff has taken NAGPRA training. 

Patterson said he's confident "that the corrective measures can be undertaken, without compromising the outstanding quality and value of the interpretive programming and education that the department provides the public."

He said the department will pay the penalty from money it has received through farming rental at Strawtown Koteewi, not tax dollars or donations. 

The fine was the last issue to be resolved between the tribes and the parks department. This spring, the parks department agreed to return all artifacts that the Miami of Oklahoma says were taken from or near graves at the park. The Miami, which took the lead in negotiations for several tribes, had been asking for the return of the items for five years.

Archaeologists dug into Native American earthworks at Strawtown despite the fact they had plenty of reasons to believe the 810-acre park on Ind. 37 north of Noblesville was the site of an ancient burial ground. As far back as 2,000 years ago, Native Americans built two burials mounds and two enclosures in the sweeping bend of the White River. Farmers and curious locals had been unearthing skeletons and other artifacts for centuries at Strawtown, according to newspaper accounts. 

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Under the federal law protecting Native American graves, the parks department was required to consult with tribes about human remains, spiritual items and artifacts during excavations and to return any items if warranted. The IndyStar investigation found no such consultations took place and that no system is in place in Indiana to make sure such consultations happen.

The parks department and archaeologists had hoped the extensive dig would tell the story of one of Central Indiana’s richest ancient Native American settlements. They also hoped it would draw interest to Hamilton County’s newest and most ambitious park, a sprawling landscape with majestic views that now includes archery, trails, a canoe launch, a ropes course, a faux Native American village and a museum.

Native American tribal leaders told IndyStar that they are eager to learn about their history and to consult with archaeologists when notified of excavations so long as graves are treated respectfully and left alone.

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Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich and at facebook/chris.sikich.