un Yasuda, a 61-year-old Buddhist nun from Albany, N.Y. beats a fan drum in front of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley. (Oakland Tribune photo)
She’s seeking the return of the remains of nearly 12,000 indigenous people that are stored beneath the campus swimming pool. In this report from Free Speech Radio News, Africa Jones tells of the loophole to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act – the fact that it only applies to federally recognized tribes. The school says that nearly 80 percent of the bones are unaffiliated.
Corinna Gould of the Ohlone tribe tells Jones that “Most of my recent relatives are buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery but we wouldn’t think of putting a Dunkin Donuts or a Gap or a Barnes and Noble on top of them.”
Meanwhile, Yasuda sits outside the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology on campus, thumping a drum every time her heart beats, according to this Oakland Tribune story. Several Native people have joined in her protest, the story says.
“The Native American spirituality and prayer are the center of this land,” says Yasuda. “What has happened in this country to Native Americans from the beginning has not been peaceful. So this is a reminder that there is a limit to all the taking we are doing on this planet.”
Gwen Florio
Tags: buffalo post, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Native American news, Ohlone Tribe, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, University of California Berkeley