The remains of an ancient village on the San Xavier
District of the Tohono O’odham Reservation in Arizona are going to
stay buried. After spending almost $1 million on plans and studies,
the tribe’s council has decided not to build a casino on the ruins
(HCN, 9/1/97).
The decision came after officials
from the Sells District, one of 11 on the reservation, reminded the
council that the tribe’s constitution calls for protecting
archaeological resources, not building over them. Archaeologists
have found 500-year-old Hohokam artifacts, including bones, ashes
and pots, on the proposed 54-acre construction site, called Punta
de Agua. The tribal gaming authority, the force behind the
development, had wanted to do what developers have done in the
seven years since Congress passed the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act: rebury the artifacts and human
remains elsewhere.
Despite the council’s
decision, San Xavier landowners, who hoped to lease the site to the
gaming authority, aren’t giving up. They’ve asked the council to
reconsider its decision or amend the tribe’s land-use
plan.
Austin Nuûez, who heads the San Xavier
District, says the area in dispute isn’t sacred ground. “The site
happens to be on top of an ancient village which contains human
remains,” he says, “but it’s not a burial ground. The entire
reservation is on top of archaeological sites.”
Alex Richey, spokesman for the tribe, says the
tribe’s change of heart sets a bad precedent for future development
on the reservation. “If a district can interrupt development of
this kind,” he says, “it may put a damper on development throughout
the reservation.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Tribe doesn’t dig it.
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