Blog: Sac and Fox Nation settles lawsuit over ancestral remains

Monday, January 24, 2011  

"The Missouri Department of Natural Resources was hoardin' the bones of ancient ancestors. The Sac and Fox Nation wanted 'em back. A lawsuit filed by the tribe against the DNR was expected to start today in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, but we're hearing reports from our sister paper in St. Louis that the parties have reached a settlement.

In previous depositions from the nearly decade-long litigation, Sandra K. Massey, the Sac and Fox historic-preservation officer in Oklahoma, had ominous predictions for those who have kept the dead from their eternal rest.

I don't even have to say I am directly descended from them, because they are our people ... and anything that has been done to them is on your head because you're going to pay for that. It's not going to be in ways that maybe even you understand. It's going to be you and your children, that's how we believe these things, that's what you have desecrated, that's what you have gone into, that's what you're dealing with here.

The DNR in Missouri stored the remains of at least 251 individuals, whose bones were uncovered during the earth-moving of our modern world -- building highways, digging the foundations for new Bass Pro Shops, etc."

Get the Story:
Missouri: No longer the target of an ancient, tribal curse? (Pitch 1/24)