Originally submitted by coldrum ---
The ancestors are coming home, said Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Chairman Francis Charles. The Lower Elwha tribe hopes soon to regrade the ancient site of Tse-whit-zen so it can receive again the human remains it held until 2003. That's when excavation of the then-Hood Canal Bridge graving yard began and unearthed artifacts and bones.
Eventually, 337 intact burials and thousands of fragments were disinterred from the place archaeologists said bore evidence of human habitation 2,700 years ago in the crook of Ediz Hook.
"We're excited," said Charles, whose "Enough is enough" statement ended graving yard construction at the end of 2004.
Eventually the state lost $18.7 million at the site itself. Choosing and then abandoning the Port Angeles site added nearly $87 million to the cost for replacing the eastern half of the floating bridge that links the North Olympic Peninsula with the Kitsap Peninsula and the Seattle mainland beyond. The bridge components are now being built in Tacoma and Seattle.
"We're a little nervous," Charles said about the tribe's plans, "but we're excited about bringing this to closure." The nervousness, she said, stems from two sources:
# Meeting all the permitting requirements for turning the site into a cemetery.
# Making certain it is properly cleansed and blessed and that the ancestors are reinterred with due ceremony.
Those ceremonies will be private, Charles said.
The tribe last week filed with the city of Port Angeles the checklist required by the state Environmental Policy Act.
The 17-page document outlines how the site at 1507 Marine Drive will be restored from its days as a timber mill, a log yard and what would have been a giant dry-dock to build replacement components for the state's floating bridges.
The Lower Elwha also filed for a clearing and grading permit from the city and will obtain an excavation permit from the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. The cemetery will be re-established in the central 11 acres of the 22.5-acre former graving yard. The 200-foot-deep portion along Marine Drive eventually will be the site of a Lower Elwha cultural center and museum. Charles said the tribe hopes to start mitigating Tse-whit-zen in mid- to late April and finish the initial restoration about a year later.
After the first remains were unearthed at Tse-whit-zen, tribal members worked beside archaeologists to remove the burials. Others sifted excavated earth with water to find fragmented remains.
The Klallam culture holds that spirits stay near their remains until they are "called home," and tribal workers reported feeling the ancestors' displeasure both emotionally and physically.
Calling a halt to the graving yard work also meant the loss of yard's projected 100 family-wage jobs.
Formal negotiations brought a settlement signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire in August 2006 that returned Tse-whit-zen to the Lower Elwha.
Under the settlement, Port Angeles and the Port of Port Angeles each have collected $7.5 million in grants from the state, meant to offset the economic activity lost when the bridge project was moved from the area.
Also, the state is paying the tribe $2.5 million, is giving it 11 acres at the site, and will lease about six acres to the tribe for a possible site promoting the area's cultural heritage.
"It's been a challenge," Charles said. "It's going to be very emotional for the community to have this come to a closure. It's been a long journey. It hasn't been easy for any of us."
"The ancestors are coming home to their final resting place."
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