Discovery of sacred site gives Klallam tribe clout

By Andrew Garber
Seattle Times staff reporter

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PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe keeps watch 24 hours a day at a waterfront construction site here, even though the place is mostly deserted.

Tribal members patrol the grounds, with dabs of red clay under their eyes and on their wrists to ward off spirits, looking for grave robbers.

It's a routine that's been going on since August, when state Department of Transportation crews found themselves in the middle of an apparent Klallam burial ground and former village. After finding remains of 12 people, the agency largely stopped work on a graving yard needed to build pontoons for reconstruction of the Hood Canal Bridge.

Four months later, it's still uncertain when construction might resume. DOT says it can't move ahead on the $275.6 million project without the Port Angeles site, the only place big enough for it to build more than one pontoon at a time.

The tribe, for perhaps the first time in its history, has the clout to make people stop and listen to its concerns. It has a long list.

"Put your feet in our shoes, so you have an understanding of how we feel," said Frances Charles, a member of the tribal council. "It's like me asking you where your grandmother is at so I can go and dig up that coffin and move it because I'm going to build a condo there."

The high cost of the project "doesn't mean anything to us," Charles said. "You can't put a value on what we have here and what we're losing."

The Hood Canal Bridge, built on a series of pontoons, is vital to the peninsula economy. It carries up to 20,000 vehicles a day during the summer months and needs reconstruction because parts are wearing out. Beneath the road deck, concrete is flaking from the support pillars, exposing the reinforcing steel to rust.

The department wants to replace the bridge's east half, which means constructing 14 pontoons and refurbishing three.

The tribe, for its part, says it warned the agency about digging in an area known to be the site of a former village and a burial ground. DOT sent a team to investigate. Researchers dug 17 trenches and drilled nine holes looking for signs of a tribal village.

"They said, 'We tested it. We didn't find anything of significance,' " said Dennis Sullivan, the tribe's chairman.

The tribe agreed with plans to go ahead with construction as long as the work was monitored. But, Sullivan said, the tribe was also sure construction workers would find something soon enough.

He wasn't surprised by the phone call that came in late August, informing them that artifacts were found.

Construction workers first discovered a shell midden and halted construction. Later investigations found human remains.

Yet the state, it seems, uncovered more than remains and artifacts at the site. It also opened up emotional wounds going back decades to when settlers forced the tribe to leave its coastal villages.

The emotionally charged situation was made even worse when it was discovered that the remains found by DOT had been dug up previously in the early 1900s when a mill was built on top of the former burial ground, and a village called Tse-whit-zen. The human bones uncovered last summer were in a jumble.

The Klallam tribe's history goes back centuries, Sullivan said. Thousands of Indians once lived along the shores in the Port Angeles region. The tribe had settlements stretching from Hoko River to the San Juan Islands. Tribal officials think the burial ground dates back 300 to 400 years.

Today, some tribal elders will not visit the site. They still remember living along the shores as children, before being forced out. "It's very disturbing and emotional to us," Sullivan said. "When they unearth our ancestors and the artifacts that were with them, we're losing history."

The tribe, he said, is now in a position to do something about it.

State and federal law puts the tribe in the driver's seat when it comes to protecting artifacts and human remains uncovered during construction. The tribe has control over material recovered and how it's treated, said Sharon Love, an environmental-program manager with the Federal Highway Administration.

Technically, the state historic-preservation office could reach an agreement with federal agencies about how to proceed and allow the project to resume without the tribe's consent, Love said.

But the law clearly encourages reaching an agreement with the tribe, she said. "We're really wanting to work with the tribe ... and expect to get their signature," Love said.

The tribe is saying little about the negotiations, except that it wants all remains to be permanently reburied near the construction site. It also wants the state to pay for a facility to house artifacts uncovered during construction.

DOT says it's trying to figure out a way to build the graving yard and do an archaeological excavation at the same time.

"That's a difficult thing. We need to excavate 140,000 cubic yards of material. You've seen the Discovery channel ... where they're using toothbrushes and sifting boxes. That's a really slow way of excavating," said Lloyd Brown, a DOT spokesman. "That's the basic challenge on a site like this. Both sides want to do the right thing. How do we get to the next point? That's the nexus of where we are."

DOT officials, for the first time, are acknowledging the job will cost more than projected. "That's just the reality of the situation," Brown said. "How much more we don't know yet."

The agency earlier estimated it was spending about $30,000 for each idle day that passes. At that rate it would have burned through more than $2 million so far, just waiting. Delays can also lead to other cost increases. Inflation, for example, can drive up the price.

Brown said the department won't have a new cost projection until it reaches an agreement with the tribe. He estimates that's at least six weeks away. The tribe won't hazard a guess.

Although there's some worry about the delay, Port Angeles has rallied behind the tribe since the remains were discovered.

In marked contrast to how it was treated in the past, local officials recently signed a petition supporting the tribe in its efforts.

"There's an entire village out there and we don't know where it all is," said Port Angeles City Councilman Larry Williams. "This is the first time the Lower Elwha have had the political power to do something about it. They've been forcibly relocated a number of times, and frankly, I don't blame them for wanting to protect their ancestors."

Sullivan said the tribe recognizes the importance of the project and wants it to move ahead. "We are a part of the community," he said. "We understand the importance of bringing economic development into the county here."

One benefit has been the publicity surrounding the case, he said. Now local contractors are consulting with the tribe before starting construction.

"It's been a real educational experience for the entire surrounding community," Sullivan said. "There are a lot of people today, even though we've lived here our entire lives, who still think we live in tepees."

Andrew Garber: 360-943-9882 or agarber@seattletimes.com.

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