Charnal House meeting set for Wednesday, July 15

By Brent Merrill

Generations of Grand Ronde Tribal members have endured many indignities throughout modern times.

Living Tribal members mourn not only the loss of ancestors, but at times our people have been troubled by the treatment of their ancestor’s remains as well.

Much of that will change now that the Tribal Historic Preservation Office has brought forward the idea of building a charnel house on the cemetery grounds.

“A charnel house is a vault or a building where human remains are stored,” says Tribal Historic Preservation Program Manager David Harrelson. “The term can also be used more generally as a description of a place filled with death and destruction. The term was used by Lewis and Clark and other early Europeans in the region as they navigated the Columbia River referring to structures built by our ancestors on burial islands in the Columbia River and elsewhere throughout our homelands.”

Historically, charnel houses or burial chambers were built near churches and used for depositing bones unearthed while digging graves.

“There is a need at the Tribe for a place to keep things that we repatriate,” says Harrelson.

Harrelson says the problem of what to do with burial items and remains was brought to Tribal leadership by the Historic Preservation Office staff as a way to better handle an issue that had been building for years, and in some situations, decades. He says the idea of ancestral remains being kept in a box on a shelf in someone’s office or a storage room was not ideal and goes against the belief system held sacred by many Tribal members.

“It’s not appropriate to keep people’s remains in a museum. It’s not appropriate to keep people in Tribal buildings,” says Harrelson. “It’s felt that a building at the cemetery could facilitate that. This can be done in a respectful way. The charnel house is going to be that.”

Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno says he agrees with Harrelson on the issue of properly caring for an ancestor’s remains.

“From my perspective, it is a matter of respect,” says Leno. “I think it is just another piece of us recovering our culture. This project fits into the fabric of the Tribal family. Whether they died a 100 years ago or whether they died today, they have a right to be in the sacred grounds of our cemetery.”

“Now we have a place to bring those items home to,” says Harrelson. “It’s a very simple stone block structure with a roof and it will have shelves inside.”

The charnel house will be a 20-foot-by-24-foot concrete masonry building.

Tribal Engineering and Public Works Manager Jesse White says his department was asked by the Land and Culture Department to put together a budget estimate for construction of the charnel house. White says the building was budgeted this year and should be completed by the fall.

“It’s a pretty basic structure as far as it’s just a concrete slab, concrete masonry block walls and a simple roof,” says White. “We just need to finish up the plans and put the project out to bid.”

White says an area just south of the south access road to the cemetery is where the charnel house will be located. Tribal Archeologist Briece Edwards will survey the area with ground penetrating radar before breaking ground to avoid disturbing previous burials in that spot.

Harrelson says the ground penetrating radar measures soil density.

“People think the imagery you get looks a lot like a dental X-ray and it’s not,” says Harrelson. “Metal, concrete and different types of materials reflect a unique signature that pops like a metal detector. We are not taking X-ray images of our ancestors, these are not photographs.”

In fact, White says only about a foot of topsoil will be removed for construction of the charnel house.

“We are providing a place where our ancestors and these remains can rest peacefully until they are laid to rest forever,” says Tribal Council Secretary Toby McClary. “I think this charnel house is a perfect spot for them to have some comfort and peace while we get them to where they need to go.”

 Harrelson says that Tribal Artisan Travis Stewart will create carvings for the building’s entrance. Harrelson says the art will be minimal, but important.

“It’s not a spot to be seen,” says Harrelson.

Stewart says culture staff collectively felt a need to make a change in the way remains and burial goods were being cared for and that they settled on a charnel house because it seemed appropriate.

“We just figured it would be a good idea to come up with a more permanent structure at least to house the items until they can be reburied,” says Stewart. “We now have a little more time and resources to take care of that sort of thing.”

Stewart says that even though the art he will create for the charnel house is not necessarily to be seen, it is important and he is proud to be selected for the job.

“Art is important to culture,” says Stewart. “It’s how we tell our stories.”

Harrelson will host a public meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, in the Tribal Community Center to discuss the charnel house with the membership. He said he will be discussing the differences between a charnel house and a mausoleum so that everyone is clear that what is being proposed is not a place for living members to have their ashes placed.

Harrelson said he is prepared to answer any and all questions about the project and that he has asked White and Member Services Department Manager Penny DeLoe to attend to help answer questions as well. A meal will be provided.