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Chief Unhappy With Reburial of Tribal Artifacts

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Spiritual rites and modern development clashed when members of a Native American tribe condemned the way the Irvine Co. on Wednesday reburied ancient artifacts unearthed in 1994 during the building of a Newport Beach housing development.

When the Irvine Co. began building the 149 Harbor Cove homes along the bluffs of Upper Newport Bay, they discovered skeletal remains and artifacts, including charm stones, hunting tools and ceremony beads belonging to two tribes--the Juanenos Band of Mission Indians and the Coastal Gabrielino Indians. Both tribes reviewed a list of the findings and recommended that they be reburied as soon as possible.

The Native American Heritage Commission, which by law must be involved during any excavation or study of indigenous remains, said the developer has done no wrong. But the Juanenos contend that the company has dismissed their requests for a traditional burial that would include a formal ceremony and the interment of artifacts alongside the remains.

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“I’m tired of these guys not giving our ancestors the proper respect,” said chief of the Juanenos, David Belardes, who could not take off from work to attend Wednesday’s reburial.

Jim Velasques of the Coastal Gabrielinos, however, was present at the procedure and said he was satisfied with the way the Irvine Co. handled the situation.

“I can see where David [Belardes] is coming from,” Velasques said, “but there’s no way we could put the artifacts in the hands of the skeletons. It’s cost prohibitive.”

The Irvine Co.’s Norm Witt, vice president of the Coastal Community Builders division, responded that the Juanenos have not clearly presented their demands to the company.

“Mr. Belardes has not spoken directly to me,” Witt said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to question what is sacred and what is not. So we’ve tried to respect their wishes and have followed the law.”

Under California Coastal Commission laws, when indigenous remains are found at a construction site, the developer is mandated to stop the project and launch an excavation that includes an archeological team, the local coroner, the Native American Heritage Commission and tribal officials.

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In late 1994, the Irvine Co. began breaking ground on the $2.7-million housing plan in this 90-acre Upper Bay site, sandwiched between the Hyatt Newporter and San Joaquin Hills Road.

Over the course of roughly two years, archeologists with Macko Inc. uncovered thousands of materials, Witt said. Six sites were selected for archeological examination, eventually yielding a wealth of artifacts.

Analysts spent months sifting through the discoveries, much of which turned out to be sacred pieces such as slate tools, spears, shells resembling fishhooks and beads. Some of the findings could date back 9,000 years, Witt said.

“The best material will be curated, sent to a museum and others will probably be used for scholarship use,” Witt said.

On Wednesday, workers hauled a trailer load of artifacts that had been analyzed and cataloged and reburied them at locations where they were found. Most of those materials also had been identified as sacred by Velasques and Belardes, who suggested that they be returned to the ground, rather than be exposed to research, Witt said. The remaining findings are still being studied, Witt said.

Because of Wednesday’s harsh Santa Ana winds, Velasques said he did not conduct a formal burial ritual as workers laid the artifacts on top of the remains. He added that the indigenous land was blessed and a ceremony was held in previous years when the artifacts were first unearthed.

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Belardes, who works as a groundskeeper for Capistrano Unified School District, said he will continue to demand that the Irvine Co. allow him to examine the artifacts. With about 2,000 Juanenos in Orange County, he said the rich archeological findings should be more closely examined by a Juaneno.

“These are our ancestors. We need to take care of them because the laws don’t protect them,” he said. “It’s a shame that they are not learning something from the ancient ones and are not giving them the respect they deserve.”

The Native American Heritage Commission, which serves as a mediator between tribal officials and developers, said the Irvine Co. has been “perfectly cooperative” and that the archeological data that has been collected will be used for further research.

Gail McNulty, an associate program analyst with the commission, said that most tribal customs--including those of the Juanenos and Gabrielinos--require that uncovered artifacts be returned to the burial grounds soon after the archeological studies. In compliance with these regulations, the Irvine Co. set out last month to bury the first half on Wednesday, she said.

Opposing opinions on how artifacts should be handled is not uncommon during excavation studies, especially when various tribes are involved, McNulty said.

“Two different tribal groups often have different belief systems,” she said. “Even among members of one tribe . . . they have disagreements.”

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Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Lisa Richardson

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