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No More Secrets
By Tom Robertson
December 9, 1999
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The Leech Lake crew has uncovered ample evidence that the site was once a village or heavily-used campsite. They've discovered a variety of artifacts, including shards of pottery, animal and fish bones and stone flakes left from tool making.
 
For years, Minnesota archaeologists have attempted to protect Indian burial grounds and other sensitive historic sites by keeping their locations secret. But now, state officials are reversing that strategy.

LEON BUTCHER is having fun.
Butcher: It's pretty exciting. I wonder what I'm going to find next.
Near the south bank of the Mississippi River and the shore of Lake Bemidji, Butcher stands in a square hole about knee deep, carefully cutting through layers of dirt and throwing shovel-loads into a fine-screened sifter. Butcher is a crew member with the Leech Lake Heritage Sites Program, conducting an archaeological investigation for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. MnDOT is planning a major road realignment for Bemidji's main north-south corridor.
Butcher: We just found a bone over here in this last level. What I really like to find is the prehistoric things like stone tools.
The Leech Lake crew has uncovered ample evidence that the site was once a village or heavily-used campsite. They've discovered a variety of artifacts, including shards of pottery, animal and fish bones and stone flakes left from tool making. Archaeologist and field director David Kluth says some of the artifacts probably date back 3,000 years, but he says it's unlikely anything found at the site will change MnDOT's road construction plans. Kluth looks at the dig as possibly the last opportunity to learn about the people who once hunted and fished along the river.
Kluth: That's one of the factors that we have to consider is that when the road starts being built, they're going to destroy a lot of this area, so what we're trying to do is gather as much knowledge now as we can. It's the early history of Bemidji. I think a lot of people are interested in what went on in this area.
In an era of urban sprawl and accelerated development, the thrust of a lot of archaeological research in Minnesota these days is driven by utility, new roads or building projects that give scientists a brief window of opportunity to peak at the past. It's rare that sites attract controversy on a par with the battle around the Highway 55 re-route in Minneapolis. The state, and MnDot in particular, try to be careful when there is indication of burial sites, and try to work closely with tribal groups.

State Archaeologist Mark Dudzik says Minnesota has been occupied by humans for more than 10,000 years, and there are literally thousands of sites worthy of investigation. But Dudzik says they can't all be saved.
Dudzik: We need to, I think, as best we can, inventory what we have so we understand what we're doing and what we're impacting, what we may be destroying. And, again, make informed decisions about how we wish to proceed with development. But realistically, all sites in the end cannot be saved. The whole state is not a museum.
Dudzik's goal is to preserve what can be preserved, especially burial sites. He and other lead archaeologists around the country are rethinking the best way to do that. After decades of trying to protect burial and earthwork sites by keeping their locations secret, Dudzik has decided instead to move cautiously to let the rest of us know where they are.
Dudzik: Before there was thinking that, you know, if we don't tell anyone where they are, that way we'll protect them. Well, that might have worked 50 years ago, or 100 years ago, but with the pace of development, that's not the way to protect such sites anymore.
Dudzik is creating a Web site that will allow the public to check for gravesites or historically significant areas on land being considered for development. Web site visitors will be able to click on maps and, in seconds, know whether any sites are located in a given township or section. To avoid treasure-hunting and looting, exact details will be provided only to local units of government. Dudzik says it's important to respect the people who came before us.
Dudzik: It doesn't seem that we can be so cavalier with their memory as to just write them off, throw them on the trash heap of memory, the trash heap of history. These people were here before us, and I think their resting place, it's important to maintain that.
Dudzik says the Web site will be ready in time for the spring construction season. Until then, he'll work with counties and other agencies to decide who will have passwords to gain access to the most sensitive information.