In the Ohio History Center’s Indigenous Wonders of the World exhibit is a hallway shrouded in papery fabric. The wall next to it poses two questions: What did people do here? And: Should we display these objects?
The items in question are ceremonial objects and tools collected from the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks. Ohio History Connection consulted with American Indian tribes and decided to put the artifacts where visitors had to make a deliberate choice to view them.
No human remains are on display – however, the Ohio History Connection is home to the remains of about 7,100 American Indian ancestors and more than 110,00 associated funerary items.
If passed by the Ohio Senate, an amendment in the state budget would allow the Ohio History Connection to use land it owns or stewards to reinter the remains.
“They're not at rest until they're in the ground in a final resting place that they no longer have to worry about being disturbed again."Alex Wesaw, director of American Indian Relations at the Ohio History Connection
The Ancestors
Some of the indigenous remains have been in the care of Ohio History Connection, formerly the Ohio Historical Society, since it was founded in 1885.
Others came to the Ohio History Connection over the years. They were given by other institutions that shuttered archaeology programs. Others were donated by property owners who unwittingly unearthed them while putting in a new deck.
“And, historically, our institution did do some excavating and did take ancestors out of the ground,” said Alex Wesaw, director of American Indian Relations for the Ohio History Connection. “We're not shying away from that. That's a practice we wouldn't employ today.”
Wesaw is the second person to hold his position, which was created around 2016. Before that, archeologists cared for the indigenous remains, but they didn’t work with the tribes, he said.
Wesaw is a citizen of the Pokagon band of Potawatomi Indians, a federally recognized tribe in southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana.
He personally feels – and most tribes agree – that ancestors at the Ohio History Connection are not at rest.
“They're not at rest until they're in the ground in a final resting place that they no longer have to worry about being disturbed again,” Wesaw said.
Repatriation, however, is complicated.
NAGPRA
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, was enacted by Congress in 1990. It calls for the return of all human remains and funerary, sacred or culturally significant objects to American Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.
“What's key about repatriation work is that we're working in good faith and on a government-to-government context with the tribes to make decisions collectively,” Wesaw said.
If remains can be identified as belonging to one tribe or a tribal group, those groups can easily offer guidance – a but most of the remains in the Ohio History Connection’s care are considered “culturally unidentifiable,” meaning they cannot be connected one tribe or are so old that they may have been ancestors of multiple modern-day tribes.
In those cases, NAGRPA calls for the Ohio History Connection to consult with as many as 60 different tribes that have connections to Ohio.
Since Ohio is a removal state – meaning tribes here were relocated west – a lot of knowledge has been lost, Wesaw added.
The Ohio History Connection has reburied a small number of ancestors in intertribal burials. Most of the remains in Ohio History Connection’s care are from Ohio.
“And according to most tribes’ traditions, they should go back in the ground here in Ohio,” Wesaw said.
“What's key about repatriation work is that we're working in good faith and on a government-to-government context with the tribes to make decisions collectively."Alex Wesaw, director of American Indian Relations at the Ohio History Connection
Legal changes
Until recently, Ohio law didn’t accommodate reburial on the scale needed by the Ohio History Connection. That could change if the Ohio Senate approves the state budget with the amendment allowing for the repatriation of remains.
The Ohio House approved the budget with the bipartisan amendment. It was led by Representatives Jessica Miranda (D-Forest Park) and Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati).
Miranda said a Columbus Dispatch article inspired her to act.
“And, you know, I was just floored in the first place that we had this many in our possession and that, you know, nothing has been done until now to make sure that we can respectfully return those to where they belong,” she said.
Seitz said the amendment received no pushback.
“It’s a small but significant step to show our respect for the Native Americans left that populated Ohio long before the European settlers arrived,” he said.
They're optimistic that the language will stay in the Senate version of the budget.
Strengthening relationships
Wesaw admits that at times, the Ohio History Connection has heard from tribes that it was not doing as much as it should have. Listening, though, has led to deeper, stronger relationships with the tribes, he said.
Wesaw is also glad that the Ohio History Connection was able to keep ancestors’ remains in the state.
“There's a whole lot of there's a whole lot of things about this work that we're doing that is really heartbreaking in a lot of ways,” Wesaw said. “But if I can find any sunshine through all of that, I'm so thankful that the state House and Senate created the Ohio History Connection back in 1885 because it acts as a defense mechanism.”
Though there is no set timeline, Wesaw said the goal is to create an intertribal burial ground that is protected from looting. As far as he knows, it would be the first of its kind in the Midwest.
Until then, some 7,000 ancestors wait to be returned to the earth.
