The Native American remains found on a construction site will
most probably remain where they are, and construction at the site
can continue, Morgan Hill City Planner Jim Rowe said Tuesday.
Morgan Hill – The Native American remains found on a construction site will most probably remain where they are, and construction at the site can continue, Morgan Hill City Planner Jim Rowe said Tuesday.
The remains, which included a skull and some larger bones, possibly leg bones, were found Monday afternoon as a backhoe operator with Giacalone Electrical Services was digging a trench at the site for street lights. The site is located on Cochrane Road opposite the Anderson Dam park in northeast Morgan Hill.
A recommendation from the Native American community to re-bury the remains where they lay was made Tuesday afternoon. Dick Oliver, with Dividend Homes, the developer of the site, has the right to appeal the recommendation, but Oliver indicated earlier Tuesday that he wanted to cooperate with the Native American Heritage Commission.
It was not determined by press time when the re-burial will take place – if Oliver accepts the recommendation.
The best possible solution is that the remains will be reburied without being disturbed in anyway, even for historical research purposes, because of the belief that the remains are sacred, according to Larry Myers, executive secretary for the California Native American Heritage Commission.
The commission, representing the Native American community, considers such remains sacred. When remains or artifacts are found, Rowe said, there are strict procedures to be followed to show respect for cultural sensitivity and historical value of the discovery.
“I’ve been in the area, doing this since 1969, and this is the first time I’ve ever run into this situation, finding remains on a site,” said Oliver. “Naturally, we will be following the protocol for this, following what is set in place by the city and the archeologist.”
Oliver said the area where the remains were discovered was secured Monday afternoon so that no one would be able to disturb or photograph them. And, Morgan Hill officers will continue to patrol the area until the remains are re-buried, Cmdr. David Swing said Tuesday.
Following protocol, when the remains were found Monday afternoon, the police department and the county coroner were notified. That same day, a forensic anthropologist identified the remains not long after they were found as being Native American, possibly 1,000 years old.
The California Native American Heritage Commission was notified, according to protocol, but Rowe said that since a representative would have to come from Sacramento, a representative in San Juan Bautista was contacted. The city’s planner assigned to the project learned Tuesday afternoon that the representative from San Juan Bautista recommended that the remains not be moved, Rowe added.
“Once they are re-interred, that is the end of the matter,” Rowe said. “If there is to be any further construction within 300 feet of Coyote Creek, then they are requesting that there be a consultation with the city … but the (Dividend Homes) site supervisor said that it was the last bit of trenching that they were doing, getting ready for the streetlights.”
Oliver said foundations for eight of the planned 15 homes have already been poured. The development, scheduled to be completed in about one year, is made up of one-half acre lots, and the homes will sell for $1 million and more.
“This is the first time I can recall that skeletal remains were discovered,” Rowe said.
He does, however, recall a somewhat controversial situation in the 1980s when artifacts were found at the site of the Murphy Springs project in northwest Morgan Hill. Unlike this week, the Native American community, he said, did not believe that situation was handled properly, because the community did not believe the environmental impact of the findings was adequately considered when developing the project.
