County works to address Native American concerns about human remains

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County officials are working to satisfy concerns of Native Americans who are outraged over the treatment of human remains found at a county construction site near Olvera Street, an advocate for the Native American community said Tuesday.

The site is the home of La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a Mexican-American museum championed by county Supervisor Gloria Molina and set to open April 16.

During construction, at the end of October, human bones were found -- 118 sets of remains were ultimately recovered, according to Dave Singleton of the Native American Heritage Commission.

Singleton recalled comments by Paul Langenwalter, an archaeology professor at Biola University who visited the site with students in November. Many of the bodies Langenwalter saw during that trip, were buried "in the Catholic tradition," but at least two were curled in the fetal position, characteristic of Native American burial, according to Singleton.

At an emotionally charged meeting of the commission Monday, Langenwalter, other archaeologists and Native Americans "expressed levels of outrage" about steps not taken by the county and its consultants to investigate the possibility of a burial ground on the site and about the handling of remains, once discovered.

"They didn't contact us," Singleton said of the county's consultant, Sapphos Environmental Inc., responsible for archaeological survey work. "They know us well."

The commission would have conducted a sacred lands file search and asked county officials to consult relevant local tribes, Singleton said.

County officials were apparently aware that the location was once a cemetery, but believed that all of the bodies had been exhumed and relocated more than 100 years earlier.

Tribal representatives are monitoring the site at the county's request and Singleton said Molina gave those monitors the authority to stop work if they discovered any additional remains in the garden area where work is continuing.

However, questions remain about the handling of the bones found and whether they will be reinterred.

The remains were first sent to Cal State Los Angeles, but when the university asked that they be removed, were relocated to the Museum of Natural History, according to an aide for Molina.

California law dictates that the remains be "treated and disposed of with dignity and respect," said Singleton, but "there are concerns about that."

They are in bags and boxes at the county museum, which Singleton said may also be in violation of archaeological standards. He raised the possibility that the county had also skipped steps required by federal environmental law and disregarded the rules of its own coroner regarding remains.

However, despite yesterday's heated comments, "Communication has improved considerably between the county and all the stakeholders," Singleton said. "It's a work in progress."

The commission did not have a quorum Monday, so it could not take official action.

Following that session, Molina met with members of the Native American community and offered assurances that she would see to it that the remains were better cared for, Singleton said.

Molina was in a closed door meeting of the Board of Supervisors and unavailable for comment this afternoon.

The California Native American Heritage Commission was established by the Legislature in 1976 in an effort to protect burial grounds from vandalism, destruction and invasive scientific research.

Aki Ross Ana Paula Lemes Shana Hiatt Connie Nielsen Susan Ward