Yosemite Natives - Yosemite Park excavation - 2002 Part 1

Part 1, in the year 2002 Yosemite National Park was excavating around the Lower Yosemite Falls. This is the same spot that one of Chief Tenaya's villages was located.

They did this not for research but to put a new toilet over the old site for tourists.

When the Park Service was excavating a group of Yosemite area Native Americans came upon the digging and were surprised. It seems that their own supposed tribal leaders from the Southern Sierra Miwuks did not tell them about this project. Interestingly many of the group did not know the Indian monitor, whose name was Chris Brochini, was part of the Southern Sierra Miwuk group. You can tell because some asked who he was, what his connect to Yosemite National Park was, and what his last name was. They didn't recognize him or the Brochini name at that time and that was in 2002.

Most of the time it appears that the Indian monitor was not even paying any attention to the excavation done by the Park.

I believe they were not following correct NAGPRA protocol. Many Paiute people object to non-profits being used to dig up our ancestors. Most of the earliest Indians of Yosemite were Paiute people and not Miwoks. So why would they have only a Miwok Indian monitor?

We believe that the Southern Sierra Miwuk aka the American Indian Council of Mariposa should at least have consulted with its members first before they ok'd this project. There appeared to be NO communication at all and that is why the Yosemite Indian people were surprised when they approached the site.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Yosemite
• Mono
• Lake
• Native
• American
• Paiute
• Miwok
• Miwuk
• Paiutes
• Miwoks
• Indians
• Indian
• NAGPHRA
• law
• excavation
• dig
• grave

[wolvenancestry992]

This iz a disgrace ...

the artifacts should stay in the ground where they were left by our ancestors..

why cant they just hunt for artifacts and points on top the soil instead of destroying the land nd build shit on top of it..

[TheBulian1]

This is terrible! Poor natives... why do they have to be robbed of EVERYTHING.

[RockyMissouri]

The lady is beautiful and has many wonderful stories...!

[freelistic]

This is despicable way to show the respect our ancestors deserve.

[tuberpie68]

Don't you remember the scandal, several years ago, when it was discovered that the Park Service allowed so many cars into the park that a smog problem had developed there?! And some people were so self- & short term- oriented they expressed outrage at the mere suggestion that the number of cars allowed in should be reduced!

[stitchyus]

thank you for sharing this video!! It is hard to understand the elder I would have thought to hear no cars there , yet I hear cars all the time , I see a road there too huh ..you are working hard there !