MN-DOT is restoring an historic Native American cemetery in the Fond du Lac neighborhood of Duluth, after accidentally disturbing part of it during bridge and road work prompted by severe flash floods several years ago. District Engineer Duane Hill says when a new street was being constructed, they got a call from the Fond du Lac Band saying there was possibly a cemetery in the area — and work stopped immediately. Hill says, “Archeologists found a bone that they were sure was human, and then we knew that we had disturbed a cemetery. So for the last year, we’ve been working on… to kind of put back the cemetery that was disturbed.”
Hill says the goal is to put things back as close as possible to the way they were — sifting through moved soil for human remains to be re-interred, then establishing vegetation and building a monument.
Hill says because federal dollars weren’t involved, in this case they did not consult with the Fond du Lac Band before starting construction. He says, “If we had, they likely would have said, hey — when they looked at the project area and the impacts of the project — they may have said, there’s a historic cemetery in that area; we’re not sure too much about it, but we should check it out further. That didn’t happen.” Hill says they’re sifting through the soil that was moved for human remains and other artifacts, and will also define exactly where the cemetery is — so it’s not disturbed again.
More in this interview with MNN’s Bill Werner: