Turners runway expansion hits snag

[ Originally published on: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 ]

TURNERS FALLS -- A spokesman for the Narragansett Indians has asked Montague selectmen to support making changes in a proposed airport runway expansion to preserve an ancient ''medicine prayer hill.''

The Narragansett Indians Tribal Historic Preservation Office spokesman says the hill is a sacred site to regional American Indian tribes.

Calling on selectmen to live up to an accord that selectmen and tribal representatives signed during a reconciliation ceremony in 2004, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Deputy Doug Harris told selectmen that the Turners Falls Municipal Airport runway extension is ''imminently threatening the spiritual life and physical existence of an ancient sacred site.''

According to Harris, Narragansett and Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal preservationists have examined the hill that is in the path of the runway expansion and have determined that ''an extensive array of stone elements'' clearly define the hill as a place of ceremonial prayer. Harris displayed an enlarged photograph of one of the stones, called a ''manitou'' or ''spirit stone'' on the site that is shaped like the head and shoulders of a man. Harris said certain shapes are used for spirit stones, which is how the Indian preservationists are able to determine a site's significance.

He said this site was discovered by the tribal preservationists while exploring a carbon-dated 12,000-year-old site at the airport, which was once a campsite.

''When we went into that area, what we found were a series of ceremonial low-stone piles,'' said Harris, the day after meeting with selectmen. ''But the archeologists found nothing with their test pits. Unlike the 12,000-year-old site, which was a camp site, where you might leave your garbage, we didn't do that (leave debris) where the prayer stones are.''

''There has been little public talk about the significance of the Indian ceremonial sites at the airport, for fear of publicity drawing pot hunters and vandals,'' he told selectmen Monday night.

''The archaeologist tested the area and found nothing but arranged stones that they did not understand. … archaeologists have no model for how to examine and interpret our ceremonial areas other than to dig them up and analyze their parts.''

On federally funded projects, such as the runway expansion, federally recognized tribes have the right to consult on preservation issues.

Airport Manager Michael Sweeney said the federal government has deemed the Narrangansett and Wampanoag tribes as appropriate representatives for tribal issues in the region.

Harris has been a consulting party at the airport for the past three years, according to Sweeney. He said Harris is ''extraordinarily sincere'' about the medicine prayer hill. However, an archeologist and a geology professor from the University of Massachusetts Amherst have looked at the site, ''and they say this structure is not what the Native Americans believe it is,'' he said.

Harris said a recent resolution by an organization called the United States and Eastern Tribes (USET) contends there is a problem of professional archaeologists being ill-equipped to identify and save ceremonial stone landscapes, and calls for dialog among tribes, professional archeologists and historic preservation officers to help prevent misinterpretations and dismissals of important claims.

Harris said a runway expansion project is still possible without destroying the ''prayers in stone'' that were created to bring harmony and balance to the region. He said a 3-degree shift of the runway to the southwest could solve the problem, without bulldozing the ceremonial hill.

According to Sweeney, changing the angle of the runway could threaten the 12,000-year-old camp site. However, Harris said the runway could be elevated and the camp site covered with dirt, which would bury it but not destroy it.

Harris said he has brought his concerns about the runway expansion to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), but that the agency has not gotten back in touch with him or with others involved with preservation.

The reason Harris went to the selectmen, he said, was to get their support for runway changes, then go back to Congressman John Olver and ask him ''to assist us in finding an alternate solution without destroying these ceremonial stones.''

''That way, everyone gets what they need out of this,'' said Harris.

Selectmen ultimately decided to discuss the issue at a future meeting when members of the Airport Commission are present. And, while acknowledging Harris's viewpoint, they pointed out that the project is to be funded entirely with state and federal grant money.

Selectman Allen Ross said the board may have a difference of opinion with him. ''I have to make a determination on what's important to the town,'' he said. ''How important is the significance of a site where there is no pathway -- no identification of it as an often-visited site?''

He pointed out that the expanded runway may help attract more industry and strengthen the town's tax base.

When asked if the tribes would be willing to pay for runway changes the town can't afford, Harris replied that neither the Wampanoags nor the Narrangansetts have ''independent resources,'' such as casinos. However, he said, they would be willing to offer whatever assistance they could to support grants or similar options.

''I was told by elders we shouldn't try for partnerships (with town officials) around ceremonial stone sites, because we would have to reveal too much. … My hope is that, if we share what is important to us, you would accept it. A federal law is noncommittal and weak. We're reaching out to people who have stewardship of these places,'' Harris said.

Selectmen's Chairwoman Patricia Pruitt pointed out that the cost of the runway project has increased by $1.2 million, although it is still to be paid for from state and federal grants. She said part of the rising cost is due to the cost of mitigation, for providing protected habitat for some of the rare or endangered species living near the airport.

Sweeney said the issue is now before the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. ''They judge what is to be protected and what is not to be protected,'' said Sweeney. ''They're the keeper of the last appeal.''

Harris said he had not heard that the issue is being reviewed by the National Register and has had no further communication from the FAA on the issue.

According to Sweeney, work on the runway expansion is scheduled to start in June or July.

Both the Narragansett and the Wampanoags are native to southern Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island.

You can reach Diane Broncaccio at: dbronc@recorder.com or (413) 772-0261 Ext. 277.

 

---