Walter making news in Ohio.
Ancient graves ruined? Area man says gravel pit is disturbing tribal siteHistorian weighs in
October 25, 2009
RICHLAND COUNTY -- If you think Walter Renz gets prickly when asked -- however discreetly -- for proof of his Native American heritage, he positively bristles when thinking about what he calls the rape of a burial mound at a northeastern Richland County gravel pit.
The owner of that gravel pit wants to see proof of that claim.
Renz, self-described Chief of the Chaliawa Nation, is trying to preserve what he says is a ceremonial Thunderbird mound on land once owned by his grandfather. Now it is the site of the Ganges Gravel Co.
The rural Butler Township man said he discovered the area was disturbed when he went there in July with ceremonial food offerings to honor his ancestors.
"I saw they had started getting gravel from the edge of the mound and found a large rock with crystal in it at the very edge of the mound," he said. Renz identified the rock as a mound boundary marker because of its size, the fact that it was worked into a typical wall block-type shape with rounded corners and because it had several red ochre etchings of animals and tribal symbols on it.
Renz also recovered bone fragments and a "staff stone" that he said traditionally would adorn the top of a ceremonial staff.
He said he had been watching the gravel pit since April from his parents' property, which was not part of the original land sale, after he noticed a path had been cut across the mound to get trucks in and out of the dig area.
Renz said the man who bought the 120-acre area from his grandparents was aware of the mound -- and while Renz thought the owner desecrated the area by stripping it of trees, he said the man respected the 3-acre mound.
Not so the current owner, Renz said.
Renz said he approached Ganges Gravel Co. owner Don Daugherty in June to discuss the taboo back-and-forth trips across the mound and digging that was beginning to encroach on land previously understood as off-limits. Daugherty said he had heard nothing of a mound from the previous owner.
Daugherty said in a statement released by his attorney, Eric Miller of Mansfield, that he first met Renz when he bought the Ganges Gravel Co. 16 years ago, and has talked with him many times in the years since. He said Renz is the only member of his family to make any claim that the property is sacred Native American land.
Renz said he presented Daugherty with a proposed agreement in late August that would restore the site and ensure its safekeeping.
The simple contract, which Renz drew up with guidance from similar documents registered by tribes concerned with other sites, calls for a halt to all digging within 25 feet of the mound area, replacing all dirt that has been removed and prohibiting vehicles from running over or within 25 feet of the site. It also calls for the Chaliawa Nation to take full control of the designated site, to place fence posts and pine trees around the area and to prevent desecration or further damage.
"He can still stay in business and operate around the area," Renz said. "If he persists in driving over the mounds, I will fight him."
Daugherty said that when he was presented with the proposal to essentially hand over three acres of his property, he asked Renz to supply solid evidence, which has not been done.
"I have been shown no historical or archaeological records with regards to the claims Walter Renz is making on our land," he said. "My company will now begin its own search of historical records to see if this claim has merit."
Renz said the Thunderbird Mound is one of the oldest in the area, dating back 8,000 years.
He picks up shards of a clay-fired pipe or rudimentary spear tip, even several small bone fragments he says he's found at the site, and explains their origins and uses to visitors. He noted that the mound in question was included in a federal survey in 1887. About 100 similar burial sites lie within a 30-mile radius, that were either part of the survey or noted in oral histories passed down through generations of his extended family.
"It's important that we protect these mounds because people are starting to sell off farm land," Renz said. "The Creator gave us these spots for our mounds and we have to protect them at all costs."
Scott Schaut, director of the Mansfield Memorial Museum, said the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society did a study of Native American sites in 1914 and 1915 that surveyed Ohio's counties and inventoried all known sites. The survey mapped, among other things, burial mounds, full and partial earthen enclosures, village locales, petroglyphs, flint quarries, caches and rock shelters.
According to Schaut, a mound exists just outside Plymouth and another lies along the old railroad line between Shelby and Mansfield -- but the 95-year-old survey doesn't note remains in the area of the gravel pit. "That's not to say there aren't any," Schaut said. "It could be they missed them, although they did an incredible job for 1914 and 1915."
The early 20th century survey also shows major native historical sites in and around Mansfield as well as near Savannah and just east of Ashland. Also, in Green Township, near Perrysville, is a site where the tribal village of Greentown once stood. Recently, a group out of the Munsee Delaware tribe has begun an effort to develop a historically accurate reproduction of the village, which at its peak in the 1830s contained up to 150 dwellings. A burial site also lies in the Bellville-Butler area; on private property, it remains undisturbed as far as he knows, Schaut said.
"There probably are other sites in Richland County that officials have not been alerted to because people are afraid they'll be looted," he said.
Schaut said the area is rich with artifacts because prehistoric and historic native people lived here or migrated through seasonally. He said Ohio also has rich veins of flint, which was used for arrows, weapons and trading. "You can go through farmers' fields between Mansfield and Plymouth and find things all over the place."
By law, construction projects must be stopped if human remains or important objects or relics are found. Police and the coroner are called in if the remains are suspected to be human. If the artifacts or remains are determined to be prehistoric, all work on the site must be stopped until the Ohio Historical Society determines whether they have historic value.
Schaut emphasized that having a site listed on an historic archaeological register does not necessarily protect it. He noted that several years ago, construction on Ashland's Super Walmart store was briefly delayed until it was determined that artifacts found at the site were not historically significant.
Schaut said claims against a company for destroying an archeologically historic site generally will not hold up in court unless the site is confirmed and documented.
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20091025/NEWS01/910250314
