Grave dispute goes to mediator

April 10, 2005

DAWN De BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

In 1965, Chief Paul Theodore's mom placed her body in front of heavy machinery to try to stop construction of what is now Knik-Goose Bay Road, because that road was passing over Athabaskan Indian burial sites.

Nearly 40 years later, Chief Theodore and his wife, Star, are battling with words to keep heavy equipment from digging under the old Herning warehouse, a historic building that was relocated to the old town of Knik in 1984 atop a wooden foundation and upon the earth of more Athabaskan Indian graves, according to Star Theodore.

"I want them to not dig any more graves in Knik. I want Wasilla to take it (the Herning Warehouse) back. It's a historical building, but it's not related to the history of Knik. It was built in Wasilla; it should go back there," Star Theodore said.

The machines are quiet for the time being. The digging has stopped, and an independent mediator will seek a peaceful solution.

The Wasilla-Knik Historical Society had been participating in a grant program that receives its revenue from the borough's bed tax to complete tourism- or culture-related projects, according to Murph O'Brien, the Mat-Su Borough's planning and land-use director.

The historical society was trying to place the Herning warehouse on a permanent foundation adjacent to its current location, O'Brien said.

The borough halted the project last month, stopping the digging until a decision involving all the parties can be reached. Then, to speed the process, O'Brien hired David Hansen, whose Anchorage-based business, Arktos, specializes in mediation and public involvement.

"He was hired to be an independent party to identify the issues and to understand the concerns of all the parties and to eventually, hopefully, come up with some recommended solutions," O'Brien said.

After studying the history of old Knik, Hansen spent the last week contacting the various parties and setting up meeting dates, according to O'Brien.

Today, he meets with Chief Paul Theodore, Star Theodore, their attorney and Nancy Sult, with Friends of Old Knik.

"I could take you walking down a path here that would make you cry. There are open pits where graves were unearthed and never reburied," Star Theodore said.

The borough holds the deed to the land where the Herning warehouse stands, and the Theodores' ancestors are buried their.

The Theodores have been told that ground-penetrating radar would be used so that any artifacts could be located prior to digging.

"What bothers me about this is the fact that the borough has the right to use infrared around sacred ground where people's graves are just because they can do that. I, for one, wouldn't want my ancestor disturbed for any reason," said borough assembly member Betty Vehrs, who says she has received stacks of letters from Chief Theodore. "I don't understand why the Herning warehouse is placed where it is."

The Theodores not only want the digging to stop for good and the Herning warehouse to be returned to Wasilla, they suspect previous digs turned up artifacts that should be returned to them.

"It would be impossible to do as much digging as has been done and not find a funeral artifact," Star Theodore said.

The artifacts should be returned or an inventory of everything that's been unearthed should be provided to the Knik tribe, Paul Theodore said.

Some of the parties involved - who will be telling a mediator their sides of the story - include borough personnel, members of the historical society, the Knik Atnu Corp., Friends Of Old Knik, and members of the Knik tribe.

Star Theodore hopes she can get a group together to draft ordinances that will keep people from digging up graves. She says she's worried about Aurora Cemetery, where she has family buried. Those gravesites could be affected by any plan to straighten Wasilla Fishhook Road, she said.