The Desecration of Oneota Sioux Burials by Indiana (IPFW) Fort Wayne Archaeologists

 The Desecration of Oneota Sioux Burials at Strawtown, Indiana by (IPFW) Fort Wayne Archaeologists

"I would say in general," Sutter said, "I don't think anybody who has knowingly violated NAGPRA regulations should be permitted to work as an archaeologist at a minimum.”

More on the evidence that the Strawtown site was of Oneota Sioux Hopewell origins  www.nephilimgiants.net : Strawtown Hopewell Earthwork Determined to be Oneota Sioux in Central Indiana

The archaeological dig at Strawtown, Indiana, was extensive, leaving a wake of destruction on this ancient Oneota Sioux burial and earthwork complex. Archaeologists found a copper headdress at the site with skeletal remains that are diagnostic of Middle Woodland Oneota Sioux Hopewell dating 300 B.C. - 500 A.D.   Oneota Sioux Hopewell have been recognized across Indiana from the Mann Site in Posey County to the Porter County in northwest Indiana. I know of no skeletal remains that have been returned to the Oneota Sioux. If archaeologists recognized the Dakota Sioux as the builders of burial mounds and earthworks in Indiana, they would be forced to empty their vast collections of artifacts and skeletal remains.  

    In Indiana, the greatest threat to the ancient burial mounds and earthworks is the presence of university archaeologists. When will the government finally defund the universities?

These are excerpts from just one of the articles that detail the university archaeologists' crimes at Strawtown, Indiana. 

How a Native American burial site was desecrated in Hamilton County
County, university officials aggressively excavated ancient burial site at Strawtown Park, trampling on rights of tribes to protect their dead
Chris Sikich

chris.sikich@indystar.com 11/5/16 Full story here 

Eternal unrest: How archaeologist, Hamilton County park officials defiled Native American graves (indystar.com)

"The first summer archaeologists began excavating a Native American burial ground at Strawtown Koteewi Park, they found a human jawbone.

The law was clear. They should have notified Native American tribes to allow them the opportunity to rebury their ancestor.

Instead, they studied, cataloged and boxed up the bone fragments. And for the next 10 years, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne's archaeological team and the Hamilton County Parks & Recreation Department continued digging aggressively — never notifying tribal leaders.

"What happened is awful," Richard Sutter, the head of IPFW's anthropology department, told IndyStar. "It's inexcusable."

"Andrew Smith and Craig Arnold, two of McCullough’s assistant archaeologists, said they excavated entire structures, in many cases leaving nothing untouched. They dug so extensively that future archaeologists who might have new technology will not be able to reinvestigate certain sites. Procedure calls for no more than half of structures to be excavated and they took so many artifacts from the ground, it left little money for analysis."

"Karin Maloney, an archaeologist who worked as a history interpreter for the park from 2006 to 2012, said she told McCullough and Patterson the excavations were violating NAGRPA within a year of being hired."

They did not stop until they uncovered a skull. They found a copper plate beneath the skull, indicating a person of status.

"I would say in general," Sutter said, "I don't think anybody who has knowingly violated NAGPRA regulations should be permitted to work as an archaeologist at a minimum.”

Arnold and Smith began working with the tribes, a collaboration that ultimately led to a list of 90,000 items that were found in graves, near human remains or within sacred sites.

Each new revelation over the next several years — from the fact human bones and grave offerings had been excavated, to the discovery that thousands of children had participated in digs at grave sites — heightened the outrage of Strack and other tribal representatives.

"The idea that uninformed, untrained children were participating in the excavations, pushing dirt through screens, was unthinkable," Strack said. "That could be the decomposed remains of our ancestors."

By November 2012, three tribes had filed federal complaints.

Even then, they did not file a report with the NAGPRA office.

Instead, McCullough removed the pottery, which is now thought to be a burial vessel. A significant find, it was the first artifact to link an early Great Lakes culture called the Oneota to Central Indiana.