Bones to be handled by Washoe Tribe

Human bones unearthed by a utility crew on the southeast side of C Hill have been turned over to the Washoe Tribe and are being treated as American Indian remains, said Darrel Cruz, a historic preservation officer with the Washoe Tribe on Tuesday.

Cruz said state and federal archaeologists determined that the bones found Monday, which consisted of skull fragments, ribs, vertebrae, leg and jaw, are of Native American descent and are likely close to 200 years old.

He said a blue ceramic button, found among the bones and dated to the 19th century by a Nevada Museum archaeologist who went to the scene on Monday, do not belong with the bones.

"The local tribe is the Washoe tribe. We have occupied the area for at least 10,000 years," said Cruz. "Because of the features of the remains, we've determined them to be Native American."

Cruz said there would probably be no further examination of the bones. Once there is clearance from the federal government, he said, they will be re-buried in a private tribal ceremony at the site managed by the U.S. Forest Service, a quarter-mile up from Curry Street behind the Carson Ranger District.

"I don't think they'll be studied any further. That's one of the things that the tribe has been against," Cruz said. "There are more skeletons in museums than there are living natives. How many bones do you need to study?"

A Sierra Pacific Power crew using a backhoe to dig a hole for a new power pole came upon the bones after digging three to four feet just before 1 p.m. Monday.

"They started striking bones, stopped and called authorities," said Faye Anderson, spokeswoman for Sierra Pacific.

The Carson City Sheriff's Department responded to the scene and when it was determined the bones were on Forest Service land, the scene was turned over to the Forest Service, said Carson City Sheriff's Detective Dena Lacy.

Lacy said archaeologists from the Nevada State Museum, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, all agreed Monday afternoon that based on the pelvis found, the remains were of a woman in her late 30s to early 40s.

Eugene Hattori, an archaeologist with the Nevada State Museum, Department of Cultural Affairs, said he was one of the three archaeologists who determined that the remains were American Indian.

"There was a significant amount of tooth wear as well as some shoveling in the lower incisors, and those are traits that we look for," he said.

Hattori disagreed with Cruz's opinion that the button, dated to the 19th century and common before the use of glass-pressed buttons, was not related to the bones.

"Of course it's not very precise, we can't say if the button was pre- 1870 or pre-1860. In addition to that, the Carson Indian Colony was probably in that general vicinity at the time."

From the statements from the backhoe operator and the condition of the button, Hattori surmised, the button was not a "surface find."

"Especiallly with the fires that have gone through there. If that button were on the surface it would have been destroyed."

State Archivist Guy Rocha said in addition the the Carson Indian Colony being in the area, the Gardner Ranch, belonging to Matthew Culbertson Gardner, a central figure in the logging and lumber industry of the day, owned Carson Valley's largest ranch very near if not precisely where the bones were found. Gardner owned the ranch from 1861 until his death in 1908.

Rocha noted it was not unusual for families to bury their loved ones on their property, and the find of the bones made for some speculation that it could have been a Gardner descendent.

But Hattori said the location of the remains and condition of the teeth made it more likely that the woman was not Caucasian.

"In my mind I was fairly confident " in my vote of the three of us " the remains were most likely Native American," he said.

- Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.