Chief hopes curse haunts graverobbers -- BURIAL GROUND DESECRATIONS,ETC.

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Date Posted: 09:24:39 04/09/01 Mon
Author: Adv Reporter
Subject: Chief hopes curse haunts graverobbers

Chief hopes curse haunts graverobbers

Suzanne Fournier
The Province

VANCOUVER - Lyackson Chief Richard Thomas wants the people who desecrated
his relatives' graves and scattered human bones to know that they've
committed a dangerous act of disrespect.

The cemetery established in 1875 on Valdes Island (between Vancouver Island
and the mainland), is a "significant heritage site" with 16 architectural
monuments and about 50 graves, says archeologist Eric McLay, who discovered
the damage.

Four graves were broken into and fresh digging disturbed a human femur and
vertebrae.

But Mr. Thomas and Mr. McLay say that in Coast Salish tradition, allowing a
child near a grave, tampering with a grave or even going near a graveyard at
dusk "has spiritual consequences.

"I would hope whoever did this would have a conscience to bother him, but we
do believe there are consequences that will befall people who desecrate our
sacred sites," says Mr. Thomas.

"The whole of Valdes Island is sacred to us: the burial caves, the village
sites and the cemeteries where our grandfathers and grandmothers lie
buried."

Agrees McLay: "It's a kind of a curse, and curses still work in the Coast
Salish tradition."

Mr. McLay, whose work is funded by the B.C. Heritage Trust grant, was
investigating how to restore and secure the cemetery, when he discovered the
damage.

Of five brick sarcophagi at the site, two were damaged and a third grave,
already covered by a cement slab to deter vandals, had had its cover lifted
and cracked.

Gabriola Island RCMP Constable Todd Eppler says the vandals likely came by
private boat to Valdes Island, which has no ferry, no Hydro.

Const. Eppler and Mr. Thomas acknowledge the vandals may have been trying to
recover silver, textiles or wooden artifacts from the graves, which command
high prices from unscrupulous antique dealers or pawn shops.

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