Mr. Schweigman outside the sweat
From the beginning, the people on the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation had concerns about how the remains found at the site were to be treated. Archaeologists and government officials agreed that the remains would be briefly studied then reburied. In the meantime, the people from the Crow Creek Reservation were concerned about the spiritual aspects of the dig and whether the excavation was proper.
They asked that a Lakota Holy Man conduct ceremonies at the site. Mr. Bill Schweigman, a holy man from Rosebud, built a sweatlodge at the site. He took two skulls into the lodge during the ceremony. During the ceremony, he was told that the "wanagi," spirits that sometimes guard graves, were gone and that the excavation could continue.
Mr. Schweigman outside the sweat
People were also concerned about more looting at the site and they also wanted to be certain that the bones were being respectfully treated. Indian people thus became both excavators and guards, on site 24 hours a day.
Guards lived in a tipi next to the site
In 1981, after much discussion between Crow Creek Sioux Reservation officials, the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Arikara Nation, the remains were reburied on the site where they had lived. At the request of the Arikara, remains were placed in 6 burial vaults. Several Christian and Traditional Lakota ceremonies were conducted. The next day, Arikara people and a Holy Woman came to the site to conduct private ceremonies.
Two photos of the Christian ceremonies at the Reburial
A burial vault with plaque reading "Crow Creek Village, Died circa 1325 AD, Buried 1981, 39BF11
If you would like to know more about the reburial, you may wish to read "Digging Ancient Burials: The Crow Creek Experience" by Larry Zimmerman and Robert Alex (Early Man 3(3):3-10) and discussions in the same issue about the treatment of remains by physical anthropologists and archaeologists (pp. 25-27).