A coalition representing the state’s 11 tribes is opposing a bill that would allow excavation of Native American burial grounds to see if remains exist there.
State Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, said the law protects property rights. He said the bill would allow for excavation by defining burial sites as places where human remains exist.
“It doesn’t say where we think they are. It says where human remains are,” he said.
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Brooks said the Wisconsin Historical Society doesn’t have proof of remains at all sites it has designated as burial mounds. He said the bill would require that evidence to recognize sites in the future.
“The second part is to provide property owners with the opportunity to at least have a process to try and retain their property rights,” said Brooks.
Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council executive director Mike Allen said the Assembly bill goes too far.
“They want to open the graves of our ancestors and move them and that’s entirely wrong,” said Allen. “There’s some federal legislation that protects our tribal people.”
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act protects burial sites, but only on tribal and federal lands. Allen said they’ll challenge the bill if it becomes law.
Brooks said the bill allows property owners to challenge whether human remains exist in order to retain their property rights.
Tribal groups are planning a rally at the state Capitol early next week.
The Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council has passed a resolution opposing the bill. A council spokesman said they’ll challenge the bill if it becomes law. A spokesman for the bill’s Senate co-sponsor, Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, said it’s unclear whether it will move forward in that chamber.
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