Carly RytherANTY 451Dr. MacDonald

CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSULTING CULTURAL AFFILIATIONS

Case Studies Foley Square federal building and courthouse in New York City Widening of Route 4 in Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota, First African Baptist Church Cemetery in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania

Why? they each have flaws, some major, and they can inspire future

solutions for consultation and public involvement each site had human remains discovered to show that there are other impacted communities besides

Native Americans in the NHPA process

WHY THESE THREE CASE STUDIES?

Guidelines for the treatment of human remains, if discovered:

Once a human skeleton has been turned over to the state archaeologist or has been exhumed under permit:

It should be examined

Records of the analysis

If identified as Native American contact SHPO and THPO

PROCEDURE REGARDING HUMAN REMAINS

Foley Square federal building site

General Services Administration (GSA) was the agency

Highly publicized and not in the good way

GSA had no plan in place to handle human remain, if they were discovered

CASE STUDY #1: MANHATTAN COLONIAL ERA SLAVE BURIAL GROUND

African American community of New York City became aware of the mistreatment of the site and were very concerned

GSA halted all work and tried reassessing the situation

Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (ACHP) became involved

The city switched to physical anthropologist, Michael Blakey, from Howard University

CASE STUDY #1 CONTINUED

The construction at the site stopped because the community activists lobbied President George H.W. Bush to cease the destruction of their ancestral remains

GSA proposed partial mitigation of adverse effects to the burial ground by undertaking programs of: Data analysis Curation Education reinter the remains in a timely fashion

CASE STUDY #1 CONTINUED

Two cemeteries uncovered:

The Eighth Street cemetery was in use from 1823 until 1842 and the Tenth Street cemetery was used from 1810 until 1822

The Tenth Street cemetery was first uncovered when ramps were being constructed for the new Vine Street Expressway

The Eighth Street cemetery was discovered in 1990 directly in the path of the new expressway

CASE STUDY #2: FIRST AFRICAN BAPTIST CHURCH CEMETERY IN PHILADELPHIA

Both archaeological recoveries were done in accordance

with federal historic preservation legislation under the NHPA. The Tenth Street site:

Congregants consulted 1983 to 1984 a wooden viewing platform was built Detailed handouts The Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum

tours A very popular article was published in Archaeology

at the same time a documentary about the sites, Ground Truth: Archaeology in the City , came out

CASE STUDY #2 CONTINUED

Eighth Street Site

was not open for public viewing

John Milner Associates opened their

laboratory for more than 50 groups to

observe some of the analysis being done

The recovered collections were housed

between the Afro-American Historical and

Cultural Museum as well as at the Atwater

Kent Museum of Philadelphia for an

exhibit on urban archaeology called City

Beneath Our Feet.

CASE STUDY #2 CONTINUED

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) proposes to

reconstruct an eight-mile section of a highway that

runs through the Crow Creek Reservation in South

Dakota.

1997- Ten archeological sites

BIA submitted an archeological data recovery report to the

SHPO with a finding of no historic properties affected.

BIA carried out archaeological data recovery at three sites

CASE STUDY #3: WIDENING OF ROUTE 4 CREEK RESERVATION, SOUTH DAKOTA

Sites’ archeological investigation exposed hundreds of

skeletal remains in storage pits at three Plains Village

occupations

BIA reports that it consulted with the Crow Creek and Three

Affiliated Tribes about appropriate procedures to remove and

reinter the human remains.

The person who BIA identifies as its Three Affiliated Tribes

contact denied any contact, approval, or knowledge of the

agency’s actions.

CASE STUDY #3 CONTINUED

Blatant disregard for proper procedures in handling historic resources and the 106 process

No consultation with lineal descendants or cultural affiliations

Miscommunication with lineal descendants or cultural affiliations

POOR ARCHAEOLOGY: South Dakota and New York

WHAT WAS BAD IN THE CASE STUDIES?

Philadelphia First African Baptist cemeteries Viewing platform School outreach Museum cooperation Congregation cooperation Observing analysis

South Dakota BIA Mitigation

New York GSA mitigation National Register of Historic Places Memorial

WHAT WAS GOOD IN THE CASE STUDIES?

Because it is mandated in the NHPA

Completes knowledge of the sites

Respects the remains found

Respects the lineal descendants

Respects the community by being aware

GOOD ARCHAEOLOGY

WHY IS CONSULTATION SO IMPORTANT?