Before the CNMI Historic Preservation Review board cast secret ballots to approve Best Sunshine International, Ltd.\u2019s archaeological dig in Garapan, they pointed to the 261 human remains dug up by Swift Harper Archaeological Resource Consulting on the same grounds 15 years ago, recommending that the remains, which have been sitting in a rented air-conditioned room for over a decade, be reconciled with BSI\u2019s future work.<\/p>\n
However, SHARC said the remains could be had \u201cwith conditions,\u201d and BSI argued that this data is outside what they were required to have per rules and regulations.<\/p>\n
Discussion unearthed concerns over a potential lawsuit for the rights to these bones, the validity of the secret ballot casting, and open pitches across the room by SHARC principal investigator Michael Fleming to BSI that they fund the completion of his work.<\/p>\n
Absolutely no dating has been done on this remains however, according to SHARC.<\/p>\n
Board members wanted a \u201ccomprehensive understanding\u201d and \u201ccomplete picture\u201d of past work articulated to make their decision. But BSI asked that this be required outside the application awaiting the board\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n
Five board members voted in favor of the project. One abstained.<\/p>\n
Both BSI and SHARC had concerns over the secret ballot, citing transparency and the Open Government Act.<\/p>\n
The board made the decision Monday to cast their votes in secret. They came out of executive session yesterday with the same decision, saying they would vote secretly until told otherwise.<\/p>\n
The board doesn\u2019t have a legal counsel, according to HPO.<\/p>\n
Voting members present were Don Farrell, Pedro A. Duenas, Dr. Hiro Kurashina, Dr. Elizabeth Rechebai, Joseph Limes, and Fr. Francis X. Hezel. Kurashina excused himself, citing conflicts of interest as the BSI study is affiliated with the University of Guam, where he works.<\/p>\n
In the end, the board voted in favor of the application, recommending that every effort is made to complete the both studies on the site and that any artifacts recovered be curated and showcased on site to show these artifacts to people who visit and live on the island of Saipan.<\/p>\n
\u2018The pitch\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Fleming, who attended the meeting with SHARC partner Randy Harper, told the board that he has \u201cno intention to keep a single piece\u201d of the 260 remains.<\/p>\n He said he has been safekeeping the artifacts for the last 15 years, noting that what\u2019s missing is a forensic analysis and report on these studies.<\/p>\n He said his investor wanted a hotel on the site, but backed out after Japan Airlines and other heavyweight investors pulled out of the CNMI.<\/p>\n The investor \u201cabandoned us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His completed work, which he claimed covered 95 percent of the hotel footprint, took three years because of the lack of funding.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve inherited 260 remains\u2026 We excavated every square inch,\u201d and called the collections a \u201cproduct\u201d that could \u201cfast-track\u201d the BSI project.<\/p>\n In response to board member Hexel\u2019s comment that available data \u201cdoes not shine light\u201d if there was a Spanish or ancient village structure on the site, Harper noted that they uncovered a 15-by-10 meter \u201cburn deposit\u201d that suggests a human burial grave.<\/p>\n Harper, alluding to Spanish accounts of the time, said that during the first contact with Chamorros, many villages were burned due to the resistance to military efforts.<\/p>\n He said the site could be a Spanish site \u201cblended together\u201d with a pre-historic one, which would provide a \u201cconnection between Spanish period and Chamorro period.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the site could be \u201cinherently a Chamorro village that came under attack\u201d by the Spanish.<\/p>\n He said bones were \u201claid out like in a church yard,\u201d suggesting of events prior to the forced relocation of Mariana Chamorros to Guam hundreds of years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is in important site,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rights<\/strong><\/p>\n Board member Rechebai said it may take time, but the \u201cbest thing now is to have Best Sunshine and SHARC\u2026 sit together and come up with something that is reasonable\u201d so the board will not be held hostage on what has been or not been found in making their decision.<\/p>\n BSI attorney Victoria Alepuyo informed the board that they followed regulations to submit reports based on information from HPO, which they have done, she said.<\/p>\n She said as late as Saturday they have had contact with SHARC, emphasizing that they do plan to meet but had other pressing matters to attend to.<\/p>\n Noting that SHARC\u2019s investor had a commitment to build a hotel in Garapan, \u201cinherent in that commitment is the obligation to conduct the study they undertook,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey did that. If they did not finish the project out of non-payment, however, the CNMI has a right to whatever they found. If all they can do is dig up 260 remains and artifacts,\u201d that should be turned over to HPO as well as a report indicating a report could not be done because of lack of funds, she said.<\/p>\n Holding up the process at this point \u201cwould be an injustice to my client,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n Alepuyo said she contacted previous HPO archaeologist Eric Lash about SHARC\u2019s proposal, who referred her to the Office of the Attorney General. According to her, the OAG counsel is \u201clooking into HPO rights as well as the rights to the remains removed 15 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the OAG requested that they wait for more information from their end before they met with SHARC.<\/p>\n She asked the board that if they do require them to meet with SHARC, this be understood that this is outside what is required of them.<\/p>\n \u2018There is nothing in the law or regulations that says this must happen,\u201d she said, emphasizing that all the board has to do is approve or reject the project.<\/p>\n Farrell asked HPO why they did not address the question of rights 15 years ago, but Alepuyo advised that if they address the question with the board, they should have a counsel present. Farrell informed her they had none.<\/p>\n Alepuyo said she learned from HPO counsel that they\u2019re \u201cvery sensitive,\u201d alluding to legal matters.<\/p>\n State HPO officer Laura Ogumoro said this should not be an item of discussion. \u201cWe cannot discuss that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIs there a legal issue? Has a lawsuit been filed?\u201d Farrel asked. Ogumoro said she could not comment further.<\/p>\n In an interview, Fleming said HPO could sure have the rights to the remains but \u201cwith conditions.\u201d He had scholastic rights, he said, saying that if HPO wanted these remains, they have \u201cmissed the ball\u201d and their statute of limitations has run out.<\/p>\n Harper also said that years ago they were told by HPO to wait for the arrival of a developer in the area. This developer has arrived now, he said. That\u2019s why the idea of litigation, despite the keeping of these remains, baffles them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before the CNMI Historic Preservation Review board cast secret ballots to approve Best Sunshine International,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,4],"tags":[1311,1093,259,2914],"class_list":["post-195327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines","category-local-news","tag-bsi","tag-hpo","tag-lawsuit","tag-sharc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195327\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}