PORT ANGELES — The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s cultural property code governs what would happen if artifacts or remains were discovered during cleanup or redevelopment of the Rayonier property, tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles said.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe is one of three partners in a cleanup — now in its ninth year — of the site, which is contaminated with what the federal Environmental Protection Agency called in 2000 low levels of PCBs, dioxins, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead and other hazardous contaminants created during 68 years of pulp mill operation.
The cleanup of the site of the dismantled mill is led by the state Department of Ecology. Rayonier, the owner of the property, is the other partner.
The federal government is required to negotiate with a tribe when a cleanup is under way on its treaty rights area, an Ecology spokeswoman said in 2007, and a February 2000 agreement with Ecology ensured those rights would be protected after the cleanup was shifted from federal jurisdiction to the state.
Cultural property
In the tribe’s cultural property code, artifacts and remains fall under the heading of “cultural property,” which is defined as “tangible and intangible tribal and community assets that are connected to the tribe’s cultural and historic heritage or identity.”
If such objects are found on land “within or outside the boundaries of the reservation, and on land other than that in which the tribe holds an ownership interest” all activity must stop.
Work cannot be done “at a minimum, a radius of 150 feet from the discovery” and the program director must be contacted immediately.
“No cultural remains shall be removed without the written permission of the [tribal] business committee,” the code says.
Cultural property includes, but isn’t limited to, cultural objects, plants, records, remains and sites.
Cultural remains are “any remains, including fragments and stains (dust-to-dust) thereof and the surrounding soil matrix, with archaeological, cultural, historical, sacred, spiritual or traditional value to the tribe and also include, but are not limited to, associated and unassociated funerary objects” as identified by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
