Members of the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe of California returned to the cemetery where their ancestors are buried amid a dispute over the site's future.

The tribe was locked out of the Colfax Indian Cemetery for five months after discovering it didn't own the site as originally believed. The Colfax Cemetery District wants to sell the cemetery for $37,000 but finances are an issue for the non-recognized tribe.

The district also says it has to prohibit hand-digging of graves, something the tribe opposes. “I want the old way,” Clyde Prout Jr., 58 told The Colfax Record.

Maidu, Miwok and Nisenan ancestors are buried at the cemetery.

Get the Story:
Native Americans honor their ancestors (The Colfax Record 5/28)
Cemetery debate continues (The Colfax Record 5/28)

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