| Subject: Archaeologist challenges city's choice of monitors |
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Date Posted: 13:43:56 07/23/01 Mon
story lead from Victor Rocha...thanks!
www.pechanga.net
Archaeologist challenges city's choice of monitors
AGNES DIGGS
Staff Writer
http://www.nctimes.com/news/2001/20010722/54546.html
TEMECULA ---- An archaeologist seeking to block the participation of members of the Pechanga Band of the Luiseno Indians in monitoring construction sites for American Indian sacred objects is seeking an injunction against the city.
David Van Horn of Archaeological Associates in Sun City declined to be interviewed for this story; however, the suit states that he is seeking $30,000 in actual damages as well as "his special and compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs of this action and further relief as the court deems just and appropriate."
Archaeological Associates, according to court papers, is a company whose board of directors is composed of Van Horn, vice president, secretary and an employee; and his wife, Ruth, president.
The current suit, which was filed March 2, alleges that the Pechanga Band members are unqualified for the task of monitoring development sites, and that the city exceeded its authority in hiring them.
The lawsuit evokes memories of a case brought against Van Horn by the state attorney general and the Native American Heritage Commission. In 1990, a Riverside County Superior Court judge granted the plaintiffs a permanent mandatory injunction requiring Van Horn and his company to surrender two artifacts that he had removed from a burial site containing skeletal remains while conducting an archaeological survey for the city of Vista on private property that the city planned to acquire. The court of appeal upheld the lower court's decision, which addressed some of the same ethnic and jurisdictional questions raised in Van Horn's current suit.
The suit is just an attempt at retribution because the tribe has a good working relationship with the city, said Mark Macarro, tribal spokesman.
"In my tribe's view, this man has no credibility," Macarro said. "He has a distorted view that archaeologists and universities ought to be able to hang on to artifacts, but we don't agree. He's a discredited man. He's still trying to fight that battle that he lost in the district court and the appeals court."
Van Horn's grievances began to come to a head again last year, beginning with an exchange of a series of letters, which are attached as exhibits to the lawsuit,
In one, Van Horn told the city attorney that conditions requiring developers to hire Pechanga monitors constituted an unlawful monopoly and restraint of trade.
Van Horn's letter challenged the Pechanga monitor's qualifications, stating that "there is no living person who is a full-blooded Luiseno Indian and most members of the Pechanga Band have little or no Luiseno blood, therefore they have no way of knowing what is sacred to the prehistoric people."
Peter Thorson, city attorney, responded in writing to Van Horn's letter, citing laws that supported his actions and stating, "The arguments set forth in your letter have been rejected by the California Legislature in enacting these statutes and by courts in interpreting them." Further down in Thorson's letter, he states: "The documented history of the Temecula area and recent court cases in Riverside County establish that the Pechanga Band is the appropriate cultural and governmental agency with whom the city must consult."
Thorson's response was supported by a letter written by an attorney from the California Indian Legal Services on behalf of the Pechanga Band. In it, Laura Miranda, an assistant directing attorney, cited case law including the 1990 "People vs. Van Horn" decision, and state and federal regulations which seem to contradict Van Horn's allegations. Miranda's letter quoted the federal Native American graves and Repatriation Act, which said that American Indians must have a voice in how cultural items should be treated. Miranda also stated that "While lead agencies typically use archaeologists for the cultural and historical resource assessments, and the Pechanga Band believes this is a good practice, the use of archaeologists is not mandated by (the California Environmental Quality Act) or any such state law.
Because the issue is in litigation, the city's response to the lawsuit was brief.
"We appreciate the partnership that we have with the Pechangas as it relates to these types of monitoring programs," said City Manager Shawn Nelson. "And we believe that they are appropriate. We know that the preservation of the culture is very important."
Contact staff writer Agnes Diggs at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or adiggs@nctimes.com.
7/22/01
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Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. Full copyright retained by the original publication.
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