SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
A representative of a local Native American group is accusing San Juan Bautista officials of not properly monitoring a $10 million infrastructure project to ensure that remains or artifacts from indigenous people are identified and handled properly.
City officials, however, counter that they are following protocol by having an archaeologist on-call and that the only bone discovered during the project came from an animal.
“It’s totally outrageous what they’re doing,” said Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Ohlone/Costanoan Indians, which has more than 500 members. The group is comprised of direct descendants of the groups whose villages and territories were under the sphere of influence of the San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz Missions in the 18^th , 19^th and early 20^th centuries.
Lopez says his tribe had set forth an agreement with the city and its contracted architectural firm “that set protocols for Native American monitoring and what to do in the event that human remains, artifacts or cultural resources were found. They’re doing construction with no Native American monitor out there whatsoever.”
He added that when he visited the construction project he found a bone “within two minutes,” but officials have said that bone was not from a human.
Joseph McDole, a data manager for the California Office of Historic Preservation, said that monitoring plans are typical for projects “where there is a known likelihood of Native American artifacts being found.” He said that his office becomes involved in that monitoring if the project involves federal funding; otherwise, “it is dealt with at the city level.”
The funding source appears to be at the heart of the disagreement. San Juan had been slated to receive federal funding for the project – which involves installing new water a sewer lines, constructing a reservoir, building a water-softening plant and adding new curbs and gutters throughout the town – but the U.S. Economic Development Department (EDA) revoked it in 2007.
The city then turned to an $11.1 million, 35-year bond to fund the project, which – since it is not federal money – means the monitoring for artifacts and bones is dealt with on a local level, as McDole noted.
“I want to know what happened to our agreement and why it was not respected or implemented,” Lopez said. “We had a report from the church that there were 19,421 burials at the [San Juan] mission. We’ve been called out to San Juan Bautista a number of times. Every time they put a shovel in the ground, they find remains. We’re worried about them going through a graveyard and ripping the bones apart for dozens or hundreds or thousands of our ancestors.”
Michelle Messinger, a state historian with the office of historic preservation, said her office has checked into Lopez’s claims that portions of the project were federally funded, and therefore subject to stricter monitoring by the state.
“In this particular case, there was federal funding apparently at one point and some consultation with our office occurred, but it doesn’t look like the consultation was completed because the funding was pulled,” she said. “From what the city says, there was no federal funding used at all for the work portion of the project.”
Mark Davis, the project manager for San Juan’s infrastructure project, said an archaeologist has been present during the tearing up of streets throughout town “and there has been nothing found.”
He said the archaeologist “was there on a daily basis” early on, “but he’s decided there wasn’t anything to be done so he went on-call.”
City Manager Steven Julian said nothing of cultural significance, including human bones, has been unearthed during the project – primarily, he believes, because the ground being overturned has been worked on many times before.
“Most of the work has been in the street and that street pattern has existed for 100-plus years,” he said. “I have no idea how much overlay there’s been. Unless you’re going very deep, you’re not likely to find very much.”
See the complete story in the Friday edition of The Weekend Pinnacle, which will post online Friday evening at www.pinnaclenews.com
