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Burial Bill Not Likely To Be Heard This Legislative Session

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Last week we reported a protest was called in Madison by Native American tribes to object to the possible removal of burial sites from a privately-owned quarry near Madison.

The matter appears to be on hold. Yesterday hundreds of protesters met at the state Capitol rallying against a bill requiring the Wisconsin Historical Society to establish the presence of human remains before cataloging a burial site on private land. Under the bill, property owners would be allowed to use ground-penetrating radar, other imaging technology, or  excavation and examination.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he favors private property rights but thought the matter was not going to move forward this session..

"....I have met with the Ho-Chunk tribe, I've met with other Indian tribes. I certainly understand and respect the frustration and the concern that they have over potentially disturbing long-held burial sites. I think it requires and awfully lot more study and and awfully lot more conversation, so I don't intend to move the bill...."

Ho-Chunk member Jon Greendeer disagreed that the matter was about property rights as has been reported...

"....this is not about landowners' rights..this is not about correcting the Burial Site Preservation law. This is about money. This is about the graves both native and non-native alike standing in the way of making more of it...."

Comments courtesy the Wisconsin Radio Network. Members of the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, headquartered in Lac du Flambeau, joined the Ho-Chunk tribe and others at the protest Tuesday.

A stone company with the support of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the Wisconsin Ready Mix Concrete Association are backing the bill.

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