While Second Chance, with the help of the Sisters, has apparently located
several other sites for the location of a youth offender boot camp, the
Sisters maintain that the land is still for sale. Two other groups --
Centralia Community College, and the citizens of Toledo -- have expressed
interest in purchasing the land for their own construction.
The up side? Neither group has the money to but the land. The down? Even
after explaining our side (and my saying that I will protect the land at all
cost), the general public does not understand it is wrong to violate the
graves -- it's being called "cultural significance," as if Indians are the
only people who do not wish to see the bodies of their relatives exhumed or
broken and torn to bits. I don't like to use the term "stupid," but it
certainly fits, and like a glove.
We are waiting for certain conditions to improve, and when they do we will
be meeting with T.Murphy, Archdiocese of Seattle. It will be our position
that we wish the land returned to the Cowlitz people. We are currently
composing a plan showing what we are willing to do with the land, that we
have definite ideas about what we want.
It looks as if I will lose. Mine is the only voice saying nothing should
be done, that the (non-historical) buildings should be dismantled, the
land cared for rather than molded. Everyone else on the Tribal Council
has ideas about what could be erected, from food banks to museums (no
casinos, thankfully).
Our entire argument was based on those graves, and while I have successfully
lobbied that the first couse of action should be to find exactly where those
graves are, I can't help but feel sad at the thought of having to see more
ugly buildings on that land.
What to do?
All My Relations
dAVe
CIT/CIPC