The Region - News from Sept. 1, 1987

A Chumash Indian group in Ventura County group agreed to drop its legal battle with two rival groups over reburial of the bones of their ancestors. Thomas E. Malley, an attorney for the Candelaria American Indian Council and the Ventureno Band of the Chumash, said agreement has been reached about the Coastal Band’s objections to exhumation and reburial of the remains of at least 60 Indians from the Calleguas Creek flood-control channel. “The matter has not been formally dismissed, but we expect no further opposition,” Malley said, showing copies of a dismissal motion derafted by Coastal Band attorneys. The Candelaria and Ventureno bands had no objection to the exhumation and reburial, saying that would be the best way to protect the remains from vandalism and flooding. The Coastal Band had objected on religious grounds, but a federal judge last December said the objections were “more akin to personal preference” than a widely held religious belief.