Reply #145: Abenaki get green light for burial ground suit [View All]

[w4rma]

Can proceed against developer, state preservation officer

Posted: November 01, 2000 - 12:00am EST
by: Jim Adams / Managing Editor / Indian Country Today

SWANTON, Vt. -- Eleven months after going to court over desecration of a historic burial site, the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi won a go-ahead on a suit against the building developer and the state official in charge of preservation.

Superior Court Judge Matthew Katz of Washington County refused to dismiss two of the tribe’s complaints against developer Michael Jedware and State Commissioner of Housing and Community Affairs Greg Brown.

"The judge has said the tribe has alleged sufficient facts to go into court," the tribe’s attorney Michael J. Straub said. "Depending on the decision of the parties of the case, there will be depositions of evidence."

The Sept. 4 ruling also gives the tribe leverage for an out-of-court settlement, although Straub declined to speculate any further. The suit originated with Abenaki attempts to block home building on Monument Road between Swanton and Highgate.

Excavation on one lot in May 2000 uncovered 30 sets of remains. Archaeologists and historians estimated that as many as 80,000 Abenaki ancestors might be buried in a 120-acre area of traditional campsites and a historic Jesuit mission.

Acting Chief April Rushlow led a tribal effort to preserve the remains and obtain court injunctions against further building, although the courts declined to block two homes under construction.

Rushlow said the two houses were completed this summer and other excavation went forward. Although no remains turned up in that work, she said construction in a neighboring town exposed two bodies.
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