of
t in-
AT W getting an average
of two to three remains a day, a quan­
tity that was too great for MF AT to
store in its three-room lab. The
,h � ere be-
i tored in board box while
MFAT tried to cut through GSA and
Lehman College red tape to order
cabinets for the bones.
While th dig lasted through the
winter of 1991 and stretched into
1992, enator David Patterson and
New York mayor David Dinkins
constructed committees to monitor
tbe dig.
A hos t of African American com­
munity leaders, writers, artists, relig­
ious figures, activists and citizens
bonded together for the common
cause of preserving the ancestral bur­
ial ground.
Rutsch and MFAT encouraged
the protest, at first Soon the white
archeologists began to feel left out,
tbey thought the African American
community had turned on them in
. their fight against GSA.
, Instead of a fight against GS� the
Black communi ty made more of an
i ue over the involvement of white
cientists "dictating the position of
African American remains", accord­
ing to an article in The Village Voice.
"THE ACT that in the New
York area th re are few African
American anlhiopologists-in fact,
none--became our problem," ay
Turkel.
The Black community, not at is­
fied with Turkel' excuse et out to
prove him wrong. Though not resid­
ing in New York, Blakely w not
only an as ociate profes or at
Howard and curator of its W. Mon­
tague Cobb Collection, which has
more than 700 kelctons, but al 0 had
worked on some of the 14 human
remains found in the First African
Baptist Ch�ch in Philadelphia in
1985 ..
Blakely and MFA T ev n di agree
on how Blakely was recruited into
t project. While Blakely main­
tains that he bad a conversation wi th
Peggy King Jorde of the Mayor'
'Office of Construction which led to
a connection wi th MFA T, Tur el
ays that Rutsch recruited Blakely by
letter. .
At any rat MFAT failed to con­
tact Blakely, who lied Tur el
claiming that he had 10 t Blakely'
numb r.
"I don't think they had any real
intention of calli ng m or getting m
involved," Blakely.
TU DMIT th t
Blakely was never considered to a -
company MFAT on the dig. But,
Turkel claims, Blakely Input w
going to be valuable on the rc-
earcb began.
When Blakely arnv d f r a we k
G Ru ch'
company with John Milner oci­
a 0 P nnsylvani a company that
bad ove en the First African Bap­
ti t Church burial grourd, JMA
knew Blakely and immediat ly be­
gan to collaborate with him.
Aft r a year, G Sava of Illi­
noi and a Dem ratic member 0
Congres , prompted by community
activis et up hearings that resulted
in a S3 million appropriation for the
burial site and a25-m mberadvisory
council, consisting of members from
t Patterson and Dinkins commi t-
On July 29, GSA announced that
it planned to continue construction
but would bold off on the four-story
pavilion that was supposed to cover
the ground where most of th re­
maim had been found. Though there
were still hundreds of keletons on
the si te, th dig was over.
MFAT was stuc . After the dig
had been pronounced terminated,
MFAT felt they couldn't proceed,
especially since they bad no valid
contract. MFAT didn't know if they
should begin cleaning or just not do
anything at all. They decided on the
latt r.
However, JMA, Bl ely aoo
community representatives were en-
Tbebo \9
ground for a year and nothing was
being done with them. MFA!, they
felt, was holding the remains bo -
tage, using the excuse of the bones
being to fragile to move while trying
to gain a sub tantial role in the pro­
ject again.
CTIVI T
ClAIM the lab
where the bones resided was not
properly air conditioned, the cabinet
drawers were overpacked, and, worst
of ail, the bones were packed in
newspaper which can release acid
that endangers the remains.
"We didn't know that," said
Turkel.
The activists took pictures of the
lab and ent them to Blakely, who, in
tum, brought the conditions up wi th
the advisory council.
Th council decided that JMA
and Howard should go and rewrap
tbe remains and afterwards, ubmi t
a report to the council.
The inspection eventually lead to
Blakely being appointed cientific
direct r of the whole project on Oc­
tober 1, 1992.
M
ous cloak
wan, AFTER vari­
nd dagger incidents,
Continued from P ge A-1
determining premium by addre
rather than driving record.
"The leg! lature has pas ed a law
that continue to for e Detroiters to
pay premium rates that are, in to
many in tance , double that of
persons wh have imilar driving
record , but merely live in other
parts of th tate," Rev. Wendell
Anthony. aid.
F lR and AACP will work on
MFAT maintained custody of the
bones and opened a repository,
where visitors gradually leave me-­
mentos, such as drawing, shells,
candles, and dried flowers. MF AT
says they opened the shrine to bring
African Americans to the proj ect,
The last issue between Blakely
and MFA T was the ques tion of
whether or not all th remains were
actually Black.
"The Caucasian presence has
been downplayed," says M!AT's
Leslie Eisenberg.
Scientists believe that the few
Caucasian skeletons were a res ul t of
perhap a war and were buried unin­
tentionally.
"We are not interested in whether
th people in th African Burial
Ground were Negroid or not,"
Blakely says. "We want to know
LO
y---
Continued from Page 1
BY ADDI on-line outlets
outside Detroi t over the pa t
decade, the Lottery h pread the
burden some.
Rep. Young aid he i launching
a "thorough investigation of the
• lottery in its entirety."
Young aid he will meet with
Lottery Commissioner Jerry
Crandall on May 17, and take up the
Lottery with the full c mmittee on
May 26.
The Lottery w approved by
Michigan voter in 1973 to add
money for education. Over the 20
year life pan of the Lottery, th
legislatur has hifted th burden of
finan ing ducation from the state's
general fund to the. Lottery
revenues.
In 1 73 ov r 70 percent of
chool aid fund fr m the tate
came from th g neral fund. After a
gen ration of Lottery, th tate p y
for education wi th Lottery dollars,
u IDg 1 than 20 percent nf the
general fund money for chool .
Young tied th qu lion of the
di proportionate dollars D troiters
pay into th Lottery and Pr po al A
whether they were West African
populations or East African popula­
tions."
AS lATE AS October, MF AT
am Blakely were close to an agree­
ment. MFATwould clean the bones
am tes t them for age, ex, and s ta t-
ure. But when Turkel insisted n
typing for race as well, Blakely re­
fused .
MFAT challenged Blakely and
ent 120 . letters to osteologists and
forscenic anthropologists asking for
comm nts and critiqu on Blakely'
method, which included DNA
analy i to identify the bodies.
MFAT's actions didn't receive
any support from GSA and r ulted
in attacks led by Blakely' upport-
ers.
"Th remains" aid 'tate senator
which the Governor is asking
Michigan voters to approve in June.
"The Chief Executive (Gov.
Engler) is asking Detroiters to do
more than their fair share, when the
(Governor's) rhetoric indicate
they are not doi ng th ir fair hare"
Young said.
YOU G ID hi Committe
will al 0 100 at the share of Lottery
jo ,contracts and adverti ing that
come back to communities in hi
investigation of the game.
Detroit i not the only African
American community paying a
disproportinate hare of th Lottery
tax.
Benton Harbor on the other ide
of th tate and a 93 per ent African
American community, ent $6.5
million to the S ttery coffers.
Acros the river from Benton
Harbor i rich, white St. Joseph
which ent �2.1 million to Lansing.
from Lottery agents in its zip code,
4908 .
NEXT WEEK: Do Detroit get
back a fair hare of what it send
to Lansing in Lottery sale ?
David Patterson's letter to the presi­
dent of Lehman, " h uld never be the
Object of any cademic war waged to
benefit the reputations of. d cen­
dants of their persecutors.
On December 22, after a review
of the conditions of the remains at
MFAT, the advisory council agreed
that the remains would go to Howard
and MFATwould have no future role
in the project.
"IT WILL B bright day
when they can finally stop truggling
and let this project thrive," Blakely
said of the dispute over the condi­
tions of which the bones would be
packed up and sent to Howard.
Blakely is still wai ting for final
approval on a revised research de-­
sign
MFAT, meanwhile, will go ba k
to its usual work of exhuming bodies
for the renovation of a family crypt
in the Bronx.
"We're going to dig up some
slave owners," Turkel said.
YOUR LUCKY
NUMBERS
LQ..TTERY ROUNDUP
Madame Samara
1 040, 2230, 411 0, 1900
566� 9080,9174, 8591
177� 5544,411� 1605
1341,2291, 1125, 7034
Thurs. May 6
3 dlglt--869 4 dlglt-2669
K 0-13161921232426
30 33 35 40 42 48 51 5S 60
6!5 69 72 76 71 80
Mon. May 10
3 dlglt-1i9 4 dJQIt-7218
Kl n0--1 18 21 22 28 28 32
36 38 40 48 50 S2 S6 sa 66
69 70 7.1 73 75 76
, Fri. May 7
3 dlglt-393 4 dlgft-9244
K n0-5 710111720 22 26
30 40 43 45 50 59 64 66 67
6975n7980
Co h 5-22 23 24 34 38
Tues. May 11
3 dlglt-205 4 dlglt-4819
Keno-1 24711131620
21 30 31 32 38 41 42 50 58
60 697274 77
Co h 5---615 24 GO 35
,Sat. May 8
3 dlglt-417 4 dlglt-1048
Lottc>-111 1921 2731
Wed. May 12
3 dlglt-387
4 dlglt-6790