Vivian Markley
12-13-2005, 03:34 AM
Received this today from the local council. Thought I would share.
Va. Tribe Plans Burial for Indian Skull
By SUE LINDSEY
.c The Associated Press
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - Virginia tribal leaders are planning a springtime burial for a possibly 300-year-old Indian skull that was turned over to them by a New York chiropractor, who found it in a closet and tried to sell it on eBay.
Kenneth Branham, chief of the Monacan tribe, believes the skull belonged to one of a group of American Indians whose remains were dug up in western Virginia in 1901.
New York City chiropractor Steven Mendola said he found the skull while cleaning out a closet in the office he took over from a chiropractor who had died. It had stickers bearing the words ``Suponi'' and ``Roanoke, Va.,'' and the dates ``1671-1701.''
Mendola put the skull up for auction on eBay earlier this year, drawing bids of $150 and $152.50 and the attention of a Roanoke television news reporter.
WSLS-TV's Dan Reany figured out that ``Suponi,'' which Mendola assumed was an Italian name, was actually a mangling of ``Saponi,'' a tribe from the Roanoke area related to the Monacans who now live in the area.
That halted the eBay sale since federal law bans knowingly selling remains that could be those of American Indians.
Mendola talked to Branham and quickly turned the skull over to the tribe.
``It has a home,'' Mendola said. ``It has to go back.''
Branham is convinced the skull is of a Saponi from western Virginia. ``That is our region,'' he said. Descendants of the Saponi now live in North Carolina.
The Virginia Council on Indians referred the Monacans to state archaeologist Joanna Wilson, who determined from the shape of the well-preserved skull's bones that it belonged to an American Indian, probably at least 50 years old.
Branham thinks it was among remains dating from the early 1700s that were dug up in Rockbridge County in 1901 and put on display in a museum in Richmond. The remains of more than 100 individuals were returned to the Monacans in 1999.
Branham said the Monacans plan to rebury the skull on the tribe's land on Bear Mountain in Amherst County, about 50 miles east of Roanoke.
On the Net:
Monacan: http://www.monacannation.com/
Virginia Council on Indians: http://indians.vipnet.org/
Saponi: http://www.occaneechi-saponi.org/
Va. Tribe Plans Burial for Indian Skull
By SUE LINDSEY
.c The Associated Press
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - Virginia tribal leaders are planning a springtime burial for a possibly 300-year-old Indian skull that was turned over to them by a New York chiropractor, who found it in a closet and tried to sell it on eBay.
Kenneth Branham, chief of the Monacan tribe, believes the skull belonged to one of a group of American Indians whose remains were dug up in western Virginia in 1901.
New York City chiropractor Steven Mendola said he found the skull while cleaning out a closet in the office he took over from a chiropractor who had died. It had stickers bearing the words ``Suponi'' and ``Roanoke, Va.,'' and the dates ``1671-1701.''
Mendola put the skull up for auction on eBay earlier this year, drawing bids of $150 and $152.50 and the attention of a Roanoke television news reporter.
WSLS-TV's Dan Reany figured out that ``Suponi,'' which Mendola assumed was an Italian name, was actually a mangling of ``Saponi,'' a tribe from the Roanoke area related to the Monacans who now live in the area.
That halted the eBay sale since federal law bans knowingly selling remains that could be those of American Indians.
Mendola talked to Branham and quickly turned the skull over to the tribe.
``It has a home,'' Mendola said. ``It has to go back.''
Branham is convinced the skull is of a Saponi from western Virginia. ``That is our region,'' he said. Descendants of the Saponi now live in North Carolina.
The Virginia Council on Indians referred the Monacans to state archaeologist Joanna Wilson, who determined from the shape of the well-preserved skull's bones that it belonged to an American Indian, probably at least 50 years old.
Branham thinks it was among remains dating from the early 1700s that were dug up in Rockbridge County in 1901 and put on display in a museum in Richmond. The remains of more than 100 individuals were returned to the Monacans in 1999.
Branham said the Monacans plan to rebury the skull on the tribe's land on Bear Mountain in Amherst County, about 50 miles east of Roanoke.
On the Net:
Monacan: http://www.monacannation.com/
Virginia Council on Indians: http://indians.vipnet.org/
Saponi: http://www.occaneechi-saponi.org/