SANTA ANA : Tribe Sought to Help Rebury Stored Bones

A state Indian agency will work with local tribes to help rebury Indian bones that are now stored in a Santa Ana warehouse.

The Native American Heritage Commission in Sacramento will determine which tribe is the most likely descendant of people whose remains were found by archeologist Arthur Sanger on San Nicolas Island in the 1950s, said Larry Myers, director of the commission.

The commission will talk to representatives from the Gabrielino tribe from Catalina Island and the Chumash tribe from the Channel Islands to make the determination, Myers said.

Sanger left the bones to his niece, Betty Feldman, who stored them at a warehouse in an industrial park on South Edinger Avenue.

Bowers Museum officials learned about the bones three weeks ago when a woman, who did not want to be identified, contacted officials after her son was hired to move several boxes of Indian bones to the warehouse, said Paul Apodaca, curator for the museum’s folk art department.

The woman told museum officials that the bones were tossed about during the move, Apodaca said.

“The woman thought that it was undignified for the Indian remains to be loaded in boxes and fooled around with,” Apodaca said.

Apodaca then contacted the coroner’s office, which referred the case to the state commission after investigators determined that the remains were not homicide-related.

Deputy Coroner Bruce Lyle said Feldman had legal ownership of the bones. Feldman has agreed to release the bones to the commission, which will find the appropriate tribe to take them, Myers said.