Res 2020-243/supporting the efforts of Dr. Mario Garza, on behalf of the Indigenous Cultures Institute and Miakan-Garza Band of Coahuiltecan People to repatriate and rebury the remains of three indigenous persons from this region presently in the possess

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HELP US REBURY OUR ANCESTORS The University of Texas at Austin refuses to convey the remains of three Native American ancestors claimed for reburial by the Miakan-Garza Band of the Coahuiltecan people, a state - legislature -recognized tribe of Texas. The three ancestors, unearthed in Hays County over sixty years ago, are part of the University's "collection" of more than 2,400 Native remains kept in cardboard boxes housed in a warehouse in North Austin. Now the tribe is asking Texans to help them secure these remains for reburial. "We asked for our ancestors more than four years ago," says Dr. Mario Garza, cultural preservation officer for the Miakan-Garza Band. "After years of letters, emails, and meetings, we finally got a letter of denial on July 7th of this year." According to the letter signed by Brian Roberts, director of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, the Miakan-Garza's request was denied because the University was unable to identify a shared group identity between the remains and any group, including the Mial<an- Garza Band. Documentation of shared group identity is considered during the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) process, which requires institutions to convey remains back to tribes for reburial. "These remains are classified as 'culturally unidentifiable' which means that they are too old to associate with any known, federally recognized tribes in existence today," says Dr. Garza. "We submitted documentation that our Coahuiltecan people are original Texas Natives who have lived here continuously for the past 14,000 years — these ancient remains belong to us." In 2014 the Miakan-Garza Band submitted a similar request to Texas State University for one set of remains unearthed in San Marcos, providing documentation of shared group identity with the "culturally unidentifiable" remains. The documentation was accepted, and the tribe was given possession of their ancestor after proceeding through the NAGPRA process. "We gave U.T. the same documentation that was accepted by Texas State University, the NAGPRA Review Committee, and the Secretary of the Interior, when those entities gave us one of our 'culturally unidentifiable' ancestors to rebury," says Dr. Garza. "Why won't U.T. accept the same documentation and let us rebury our relations?" The tribal elders believe that the University wants to maintain the status of holding one of the largest archeological collections of Native American remains. According to the NAGPRA database, approximately 3,500 culturally unidentifiable Native American remains have been removed from Texas and are held in institutions and museums throughout the country. Of those 3,500 remains, over 2,400 are held by the University of Texas. 630 EAST HOPKINS ® SAN MARCOS, TEXAS 78666 + 512.393.8147 • FACSIMILE 512.754.7745 SANMARCOSTX. GOV