State reburial grounds established

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

The Historic Preservation Division of the state of New Mexico worked closely with the state legislature and have created a bill to establish a reburial ground for human remains that are inadvertently unearthed during land development or discovered on private property. According to Glenna Dean, state archeologist for New Mexico, “People are always discovering skulls and bones on private land or in the ground under old barns or outbuildings. As creepy as it sounds, some people collect skulls, but the public has to remember that it is against the law to keep these things even if found on private property,” she said.

The new bill sets aside $150,000 for the HPD and for the Department of Indian Affairs, so together they can establish reburial grounds as a respectful means of handling human remains and associated artifacts from unmarked burials. Artifacts found near remains are usually something that was buried with the deceased, so they should be reburied with the remains.

HPD’s deputy director, Sam Cata, is also serving a double function in that he is the tribal liaison for HPD and along with Dean is part of a group working with Indian Affairs and the Tribal-State Work Group on Repatriation and Sacred Places working to formulate rules for the handling of found remains and to establish reburial procedures for those remains that are currently in state collections. The reburial act was signed in April by the governor, and it will also require the state to consult with Indian nations, tribes and pueblos to ensure the protection of ancestral remains and items found with them.

“If you’re not sure what you have found on your land or property, it’s best to check with the HPD on what to do with them,” Dean said.