Bald eagles fly over the Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa. Photo from Facebook

Environment | Law | National

Former official admits he kept tribal ancestors in garbage bags

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

The court docket reads "closed" but the wounds remain open for 20 tribes whose ancestors were illegally removed from the Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa and kept in garbage bags by a top official.

Thomas A. Munson, the former superintendent of the monument, removed the remains in order to avoid complying with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. In an apology directed to the tribes affected, he admitted that he concealed his actions for more than 20 years while their relatives sat in his garage.

"While I inappropriately stored these human remains in my garage, in garbage bags inside cardboard boxes without temperature, humidity, or other environmental controls, please understand that I did nothing else to deliberately harm them," the 76-year-old Munson wrote in the signed statement.

After admitting to his crime, Munson was sentenced to 10 consecutive weekends in jail, 12 months of supervised probation and home detention for 12 months. He also was ordered to pay restitution of $108,905 to the federal government.

"It is a very sad day when a public official betrays the public’s trust," U.S. Attorney Kevin W. Techau said on Friday after the sentencing in federal court. "This was a serious crime and the betrayal was compounded by a violation of the most sacred trust placed in Mr. Munson as the Superintendent of Effigy Mounds National Monument."

Munson's written apology was required by the plea agreement he signed with federal authorities. He also has made a videotaped statement but his defense team has not yet said whether it will be released to the tribes or the public.

An apology signed by Thomas A. Munson, the former superintendent of the Effigy Mounds National Monument who admitted he removed tribal remains from the federal facility.

Tribal representatives, unsurprisingly, have reacted with scorn to the man who lied to them and to his superiors about the remains that he removed in July 1990. He took them just days after introduction of H.R.5237, the bill that became NAGPRA later that year during the 101st Congress.

"This was a racist and bigoted act," Patt Murphy, the NAGPRA representative for the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, wrote in a victim impact statement.

"Thomas Munson stole them and then dumped them into cardboard boxes," Murphy said of the remains that were taken.

In total, the remains that Munson took represented about 41 people. He also took objects that had been buried with the tribal ancestors, items that are also protected by NAGPRA.

Officials at the National Park Service became suspicious about some missing remains after Munson retired in 1994, the AP reported. Yet they never officially looked into the matter until 1998, the AP said.

The tribes weren't formally told that the remains were taken until 2011, when Munson brought one box back to the monument. A year later, federal agent found a second box in Munson's home.

"Those are my people," Sandra Massey, the historic preservation officer for the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, said in court on Friday, the Associated Press reported. "What kind of sick mind does this kind of thing?"

The incident isn't the only blemish at the monument, which is home to hundreds of tribal burial mounds, some in unique animal and other shapes. Following Munson's departure, staff constructed walkways, damaged sacred sites and undertook other construction projects without consulting tribes or following federal historic preservation laws, according to documents obtained by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

After learning of the work, one tribal leader complained that staff turned their ancestral burial grounds into "places to walk your dog," according to one document obtained by PEER.

The tribes affiliated with the Effigy Mounds National Monument follow:

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
Flandeau Santee Sioux Tribe
Ho-Chunk Nation
Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
Lower Sioux Indian Community
Omaha Nation
Otoe-Missouria Tribe
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
Prairie Island Indian Community
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
Santee Sioux Nation
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Upper Sioux Indian Community
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Yankton Sioux Tribe