Protection of Our Ancestral Graves
Note: The following article contains some graphic descriptions of desecration of human remains.
Native Village of Chitina News Release
The Native Village of Chitina (NVC), a federally recognized tribe in Chitina, Alaska, seeks public, state, and federal support to protect ancestral graves from further disturbance and desecration. Chitina, “Ahtna,” is located on the west bank of the Copper River, near the confluence with the Chitina River, about fifty- three miles southeast of Copper Center. NVC, which has over four hundred tribal members, is actively involved in regional and statewide Native rights and interests.
We, the people of the lower Ahtna region, have lived on these lands since time immemorial. In the summer of 1909, the Copper River and Northwestern Railway cut through several of our villages, forcing us to move from our homes. An ancestral graveyard near the village of Taral was desecrated using a steam shovel. Witnesses reported seeing skeletons and bones unearthed and mixed with gravel. Chief Goodlataw, upon learning of this sacrilege, hurried to the site and was horrified by the devastation. He painstakingly gathered the remains, including the forearm and hand of his grandsire, identifiable by a copper ring. The case was taken up by lawyer E. E. Richie and dragged on for years, likened to the protracted Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce case. A young photographer captured several telling images of the great steel dipper as it came up loaded. One view shows a skeleton lying on the right-of-way where it had been dumped, and another, with a much clearer view, shows the dipper coming up with the skeleton. (The Chitina Leader, May 6, 1913).
In the early 1970s, and again in 1991, the State converted more of the old railbed south of Chitina into an automobile road, increasing access to Wood Canyon for both recreation and fishing. Ahtna families who had continued to use their ancestral homes in the Chitina area were permanently pushed out due to the unprecedented arrival of fishermen and recreationists. Our Chitina Elder, Dan Stevens, shared that a late Chitina Elder witnessed the construction in 1991 pushing an ancestral grave into the Copper River. Sometime after 1991, a bulldozer went through our village site, named Eskilida Village, destroying our remains again.
Last summer, NVC collaborated with the State of Alaska (SOA) Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct cultural studies on the O’Brien Creek Road. Using ground-penetrating radar and sonar, the team identified ten graves within the SOA right of way, including one beneath the road and another within five feet of it. Several other anomalies were also discovered, potentially indicating dispersed skeletal remains or cultural artifacts from the road’s construction.
NVC is deeply concerned about these findings and seeks to ensure that these ancestral graves are respected and protected. The tribe is calling for state authorities to support halting any further disturbance until thorough cultural studies are completed and a long-term agreement on grave protections is established between NVC and the SOA. The area is heavily trafficked, especially during the summer when over 40,000 dip netters fish for Copper River Salmon and more than 15,000 visitors travel to McCarthy and Kennecott in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. This influx leads to significant environmental degradation, with litter, wasted fish, and improper sanitation being common issues. The tribes ask these dipnetters and visitors to show respect for our ancestral lands and graves.
“To destroy or disrespect our graves is to destroy who we are as an Indigenous people who have lived, bled, and died on this land for millennia. It is an undeniable fact that the State of Alaska desecrated our graves on tribal land during the construction of the O’Brien Creek road, and the State is not disputing this fact,” stated NVC President Corina Ewan.
NVC is currently negotiating with the SOA to rectify these past wrongs and achieve a final resolution. In the interim, temporary bridges are being installed over the identified graves, and the DOT has closed the road until these bridges are in place. The Native Village of Chitina appreciates public support in their efforts to correct these injustices and protect their ancestral graves.