 17 April,1996 | ||
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Beneath Sayers! |
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The earth really moved for those watching as workmen razed
Sayers House Friday afternoon. Specialists in the business of careful destruction
had already demolished the building and in their stead, others had come
forward with their enormous machines to remove all the debris and level
the exposed soil beneath. All the work was being executed with the utmost
care not to disturb anything which might have value to those for whom this
land is sacred. And, just to make sure nothing went wrong, everything was
being supervised by Dr. McGeorge Archibald,
Cliff's Soc/Anthro Department Chair and Co-coordinator of Archaeology, and
Cliff College Trustee Dennis Dubois (class of '73), founder of NASU -- Cliff's
Native American Student Union (originally the American Indian Student Union)
-- proprietor of Cliffton's historic Firewater Tavern, and the moving force
behind the long fight through the courts that has still not resolved the question of whether or not The College must return this
plot of ground to the tribe to whom it is sacred.Carefully clearing debris, master construction worker
John Lewisohn (Cliff '65) thought that he was almost finished for the day
when he uncovered something unexpected. Indeed, just
beneath the surface, he had unearthed a human skeleton! Dr. Archibald, who had just arrived to consult on the excavation of the site was anxious to conduct an examination,
but was frustrated by Chief Dubois who insisted that the site be sealed until a shaman could be summoned to conduct a proper Native American burial ritual. Arriving soon after was Cliff College Head of Security Dick Francis, who attempted
to examine the bones but was rebuffed by NASU protestors who contended that
the remains may be those of early 18th Century Nez Percé Chief Shouting Bull. In a statement to this Miscellany reporter, Mr.
Francis insisted that the bones didn't look that old to him, leading him to
suspect that the demolition crew had stumbled onto a long-buried homicide
victim! Mr. Francis went on to suggest that the most plausible explanation
(and one requiring an official inquiry by his department at the very least)
is that the corpse belongs to someone who was affiliated with The College
in the recent past. Cliffton Police Detective Elizabeth Goswell (Cliff '73) arrived within hours, but was similarly barred from the site
by NASU, which has mounted a round-the-clock occupation of the site. Police were reportedly
preparing to arrest the students when a representative of the U.S. Department of the Interior arrived on the scene and advised Detective Goswell
that such a move could be an actionable civil rights violation if the skeleton were to
turn out to be Native American. As of this writing, the situation is tense
and the stalemate continues.  |