Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
This story is about the remains of two Native Americans, removed from Cayuga County many years ago and now in a museum. Arrangements are being made to return them to their countrymen.
It would be interesting to know where they were removed from - any old stories out there?
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Sandie, just for grins I searched Old Fulton Postcards for "Indian skeleton." Remarkably few of the ca. 361 articles concerned Cayuga County. Here is what I found.
"Local News. . . . An Indian skeleton was recently exhumed in Scipioville, from under an apple tree which was planted eighty-four years ago."
-- News and Democrat, Auburn, Cayuga Co., NY, Thursday, 10 January 1877
"Prof. Long Identifies Bones As Those of Iroquois Indian - Skeleton remains uncoverd in a 14-inch grave Monday in Pine Hill Cemetery in Throop have been identified as those of an Iroquois Indian who died about 150 years ago. The bones were uncovered in the shallow grave on the south side of the cemetery near Centerport Road, according to sheriff's deputies. The structure of the skull, the flexed position of the body and one molar tooth in the head are all indications of the Indian and not the white civilization, according to Prof. Walter K. Long, director of the Cayuga Museum of History and Art. . . . The legs were drawn up and the arms were wrapped around the body indicating an Indian burial, he said. There is no indication that there was an Indian village nearby, he said. There were not enough bones present, however, to show whether the Indian was male or female, he said. After the bones were examined, the skeleton was reburied north of where it was found, the professor said. . . ."
-- The Citizen-Advertiser, Auburn, Cayuga Co., NY, Wednesday, 9 June 1965
"E. R. Backhoven, who is camping on Kipp's Island, just west of Montzuma, recently unearthed an Indian skeleton. Mr. Backhoven is an archaeologist of repute, and he contends that the remains were those of a man who lived in an age contemporary with primitive Egypt.-Port Byron Chronicle."
-- Union Springs Advertiser, Union Springs, Springport, Cayuga Co., NY, 1900-1903
"Is It Sa-on-chi-og-wan? - An Indian Skeleton Unearthed in Digging a Cellar. The workmen engaged in remodelling H. L. Storke's residence in North street, were surp[r]ised Wednesday by unearthing sections of a human skeleton, while digging the cellar of a proposed addition to the house. The skull was crushed by a workman's spade in digging. From appearences it is supposed that the remains are those of an Indian warrior. The teeth which are in a perfect state of preservation indicate that the skeleton is that of a man in the neighborhood of 50 years of age. Portions of the frame are missing and it is supposed that they have either returned to the original dust or were thrown out by the laborers unnoticed. From the shape of the skull it is presumed that the dead man was an Indian and the remains have probably rested quietly for over one hundred years."
-- The Auburn Bulletin, Auburn, Cayuga Co., NY, Friday, 14 September 1888
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