Eric Hemenway continues his good work up at LTBB:
From the Muskegon Chronicle
Ancient Indian remains reburied with dignity
MUSKEGON — The aroma of burning sage, cedar, sweet grass and tobacco swirled into the air at the Old Indian Cemetery Tuesday as about 50 people gathered for the repatriation and reburial of Native American bones.
Native Americans believe burning the cleansing herbs brings good spirits to them, and when smoking tobacco and speaking, the words go directly to God, according to Joseph Genia, a Muskegon resident and member of the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians, who led the ceremony.
“Grandfather, have pity on us for digging up our relatives and not doing anything about it,” he said as part of the closing prayer. “Have pity on us and bless us here in this life.”
The centuries-old remains of nine West Michigan American Indians were returned to a proper resting place after a long process led by John McGarry, executive director of Lakeshore Museum Center, and Eric Hemenway, of Harbor Springs.
Hemenway is a research repatriation assistant and member of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians. He works with state and federally recognized tribes to pursue the return of Native American remains and sacred objects.
Hemenway reburied the bones at the sacred downtown site and said it is unusual to have remains reburied in the area where they came from, especially if there is not reservation land in that county.
One of the purposes of the ceremony is asking for forgiveness, and honoring the traditions of the Anishinaabek people to take care of their elders, he said.
“A lot of museums, they don’t have to do this,” Hemenway said. “John went above and beyond and pushed to have this happen and rebury them in the county they are from.”
The bones were unearthed by unknown individuals in parts of Muskegon and Oceana counties. They were donated to the museum several years after the museum was established in 1937, McGarry said. They have not been displayed during McGarry’s 19-year tenure.
McGarry and his staff collaborated with archaeologists and tribal leaders, and the museum’s remains were designated “culturally unidentifiable.” The collection of bones was determined to be older than 1600, classifying them as “precontact” with Europeans.
During the hourlong ceremony, Genia explained that Native Americans believe different plants have different spirits and that they can draw spirits near by burning them. He also talked about the significance of the Old Indian Cemetery site, and the traditions of burial ceremonies including blessing the dead with water, and burying fruit, meat, and corn with other gifts to help them on their journey.
“It breaks that fabric of life when we take our relatives and put them on display in a museum,” Genia said. “This helps us mend that fabric. As human beings, we are responsible for all other human beings in the world, even the ones that have gone on before us.”
Turtle Talk 