Here is the document the Safety Harbor Museum published about the Native body they had buried on the Museum grounds so they would not lose there attraction. PLEASE note the tribe they gave the body to is called The Spirit People- NOT a legitimate tribe or group of Enrolled Native Americans.
http://www.cityofsafetyharbor.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/670Safety Harbor Museum Internment Ceremony
A very rare, public internment ceremony was held on Saturday, June 30 at the Safety
Harbor Museum of Regional History. About 200 people attended this respectful
ceremony conducted by the Spirit People Intertribal Family, a Native American group
located in the Tampa Bay area that honors the history and traditions of Native Americans
from Paleo-times to the modern era.
In 1925, a local farmer came upon some ancient Indian human remains. After his death,
his daughter placed the remains in a box and left them on the doorstep of the Safety
Harbor Museum. Upon receipt of the remains the museum had them examined by the
University of Florida and they concluded that the remains were Native American from
the Weedon Island era (200 AD to 900 AD)
Late last year, the Safety Harbor Museum Director Bobbie Davidson Jones and
Education Director Walter Bowman decided that these human remains should be
properly returned to Mother Earth in the small burial mound located at the Museum site.
But who could or would properly conduct such a sacred ceremony? They wrote letters to
the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes of Florida and Oklahoma. But after receiving no
responses, the Museum contacted the local Native American organization, the Spirit
People Intertribal Family. The Spirit People organization is experienced and authorized
to conduct ceremonies of internment. After following all the regulations of NAGPRA
(Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) and notifying all interested
parties concerning the ancient human remains, the Museum and the Spirit People
Intertribal Family cooperated on planning the sacred internment ceremony at the Safety
Harbor Museum site.
What made the planned ceremony very unique was that the internment ceremony would
be performed as a public event to enrich the Tampa Bay public’s appreciation for the
ancient past and develop public awareness of how a sacred internment is conducted.
The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM. The Spiritual Leader and ceremony
director, Robert Chastain, who is a member of the Reedy River Indian Community in
South Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, represented the Spirit People organization in
leading the ceremony. He announced to the large crowd what the solemn ceremony
process was and what public protocol was required during the internment process -
complete silence and no picture taking while the burial was conducted. At 10:00 AM a
fifteen minute private ceremony was held to properly prepare the human remains for
burial in the small burial mound located just east of the Museum on the Museum
property.
Because of my long-standing relationship with the Safety Harbor Museum, I was allowed
to participate with three other museum directors to be official witnesses to the sacred
private ceremony. The sacred private ceremony took place in a small room in the
museum where Robert Chastain gathered with six Spirit People leaders and the four museum witnesses. The sacredness of this ceremony was very moving to me and to all
who attended.
Then in a procession, the Spiritual Leader led the Spirit People members and witnesses
out of the museum to the public gathering around the small burial mound. A shallow
trench had been prepared in the east side of the burial mound. The large crowd was
completely silent and transfixed as Robert Chastain placed the ancient bones carefully in
the trench while members of Spirit People blocked the public view of the remains.
Prayers were said as the process was completed. Then groups of Spirit People women
carried shells filled with earth and spread it over the remains. Sacred herbs and medicine
were spread over the dirt layers and the shallow trench was carefully and respectfully
filled up. Upon filling the shallow trench with the dirt, the Spiritual Leader, Robert
Chastain, announced, “He has gone home. Emeenu.” The Native Americans in the
audience responded with a solemn – “Aho” or Amen.
This was a truly wonderful and solemn ceremony conducted with all the sacredness and
respectfulness appropriate for anyone. The Spirit People Intertribal Family organization
should be commended for making this public event a true cultural experience for the
Tampa Bay community. Most times this ritual is done quietly and in private. And the
Safety Harbor Museum is to be saluted for their responsible actions in arranging for this
very special internment ceremony.
Roger Block, CGCAS Board Member
Robert Chastain, Spiritual Leader of the internment ceremony.
