BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Paranormal native burial grounds

I am curious to know how most people feel about setting foot onto native burial grounds and if you have superstitions about them or certain feelings in regards to them.

For me, I have the utmost respect for them but as to the superstition part, not really. Not that I haven't read enough stories of true hauntings that involved them.

Can't wait to see some of your answers.

There is a big battle going on in a little town not far from me concerning this subject. A man in Clarksville, Missouri wants to reopen a skyride that was closed years ago because it was built on a Native American burial ground. At one time, when I was a child, you could actually see the bones.

I have also read of many accounts of hauntings on sites of old Native American burial grounds. It is an interesting subject.

Yes, I have also read of many different accounts of actual hauntings on native burial grounds.

My opinion is that you shouldn't mess with them. I think they should be left in peace and not built upon.

All graveyards should be left be.

Another problem that comes up with Native American burial grounds is that archaeologists want to examine the bones to learn more about the culture and demographics. I personally do not have a problem with this, but some Native American groups do in that the bones should be re-buried and left be.

Let's see if Phyllis from the NA site here has anything to wiegh in with on this topic.

I feel that any burial grounds are sacred and should be left alone out of respect not only to descendants of the departed but to the ancestors who blessed their grounds with sacred visions, ceremonies and beliefs. To disturb the burial grounds is a desacration and hurts more people than realized. The Native Americans have lost way too much to have to be subjected to this type of further discrimination and disrepect.

Yes, Phyllis, I have to agree with you. But I have to say that most of the Native Americans I live with on a regular basis have lost their ways a long time ago.

Personally, I think all burial sites should just be left alone period. In my own opinion, it is just disrespectful to disturb them, even for "scientist" to study, it's just wrong. I always think of it as that is "someone's" mom, dad , sister, brother, relative and if it was a relative of mine, I would not want them disturbed.

This issue has several sides. On one hand, the scientific study of remains can "fill in" gaps of Native history, on the other I feel the violation as well. Next to my Father's land in SC there is a Native burial site. Miss Ivy, the black woman who helped raised my Father after his Mother passed in childbirth told him of a funeral she had attended there as a child. We are not allowed to step into that area.

The other night I was looking through one of my new books and there were pictures of skulls with deformed foreheads. I had thought this only occurred in Central and South America, but these were from North America. I have to take some time to look into this and learn so more.

How do we learn with respect? What do we do with the remains once they are studied? Scientific advances are staggering. Once we study the remains, how do we know some technique won't be invented shortly that could glean further information from the remains.

I think it is wrong to build on Native American burial grounds. No one would ever consider building anything on our cemetaries. It is jsut wrong.

However I would like to see or be near a Native American burial ground just to see what if anything I see or feel.

Sorry, but in the UK they DO build on cematarys as far as I know. They do not look after the gravestones so they crumble and you can no longer read the writing on them. In Belguim they take much better care of their graves and have a 'caretaker' I think this is much nicer.

I do wonder though if people do run out of space to live, not just for profit or greed, whethter a good way could be found to use ground if it did become neccassary. I belive if it was done out of compassion and with honour that those sleeping would indeed understand. They would want their grand children to have space to live. Certainly if it was me, as long as me old bones were honoured and not 'chucked around' I would not mind.

Digging up for science is tricky. I think if possible the living relatives should be contacted and asked how they feel and if they would allow it. I have a genetic disorder that very much interests doctors, and they have no cure at present. So if I had passed away and they needed to study my bones etc for one of the future of my generation, I hope I would not mind! As long as it was done with the right motives and I was not violated. I maybe dead then, but my body served me well, and I loved it, so I would want it to be respected.

I certainly don't condone "digging" in known burial sites for scientific purposes. Most Native burial sites were not marked as such and are stumbled on during development. When that happens, I would prefer what can be documented and learned from the burial and remains be allowed.

Many years ago, skeletal remains were found near a river in the northwest. I don't remember the location. The authorities thought it was a "recent" death (last 100 years or so) until they found a paleo point stuck in his hip. There were several discrepancies about the remains. However, they were quickly claimed by the local tribe and interred after a cursory, at best, study. The scientists were frustrated by the lack of patience from the tribe, and the possible discoveries they were not allowed.

Unburied Native remains are "scattered" all over our country. There are thousands upon thousands at the Smithsonian alone. They have been pressed for years to release them for interment. Just this month, while visiting with my Tribal Chief, he mentioned one of his future projects is obtaining a piece of state land for the interment of Native remains from local museums and "other sources." When I questioned the phrase "other sources" his response included private basements and garages. These remains have never been studied! I wonder how many are actually Native.?

Our remains and artifacts have often been considered by some as novelties, with no respect whatsoever. So the question remains, How do we respectfully study remains when found? When do we know we have learned all we can possibly learn?

Twenty years ago we did not have the technology to determine through tooth enamel where a person lived for periods of time. Applying this recent technology to Native remains could provide information on tribal migrations, unknown trade routes, undiscovered tribal relations. The gaps in our history this type of study could fill might be numerous. What information could scientific study provide that was lost through attempted genocide and assimilation?

Personally, I feel my ancestors would want me to know.