Repatriations and Reburials
Military Repatriation
May 15, 2009
Military Reburial May 16, 2009
All Faiths Cemeteries Reburial Ceremony
February 2010
All Faiths Cemeteries Memorial Dedication,
June 2010
Since the inception of the Joint Courts Archaeological project
and the excavations at the Alameda-Stone Historic Cemetery in
downtown Tucson, Pima County was committed to the repatriation
and reburial of all human remains and funerary objects recovered
from the Cemetery. This commitment to repatriation and reburial
included all the human remains and funerary objects excavated
during the County funded project conducted by Statistical Research
Inc. In addition, this commitment extended to all the human remains
and funerary objects housed at the Arizona State Museum that
had been excavated in previous decades as a result of burial
discoveries during various private developments. The remains
of 1,386 individuals and their funerary objects were reburied
as a result of this project.
Based on various lines of evidence, each individual was assessed
to determine cultural affinity. The determinations of cultural
affinity established to which descendant group the remains and
funerary objects would be repatriated, with the exception of
burials located in the military section of the Alameda-Stone
Historic Cemetery. All the descendant groups agreed that regardless
of cultural affinity the individuals recovered from the military
section of the Historic Cemetery would be repatriated to the
Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services for reburial at
their cemetery in Sierra Vista, Arizona.
Repatriation and reburial activities occurred over a fourteen
month period from May 2009 through June 2010, beginning with
the military repatriation and reburial in Sierra Vista and ending
with the dedication of the memorial at All Faiths Cemeteries
in Tucson.
On May 15, 2009, the human remains and funerary objects recovered
from the military section of the Alameda-Stone Historic Cemetery
were repatriated to the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services.
In addition, one individual identified as a Buffalo Soldier,
the only identified African American in the Historic Cemetery,
who was buried just outside the military cemetery boundary, was
included with the military repatriation. The 65 sets of remains
and objects were transported to Sierra Vista on May 15. The following
day, May 16, 2009, Armed Forces Day, the reburial ceremony occurred
at Sierra Vista with reburial in a specially designated section
of the Arizona Department of Veteran’s Services Cemetery.
Photographs of the repatriation and reburial can be seen in the
Military Repatriation and Reburial section of this website.
Through agreement between the descendant American Indian Tribes,
the repatriation of the 36 American Indian individuals and their
funerary objects not identifiable to a specific tribe occurred
on July 29, 2009. The Tohono O’odham Nation took custody
of the remains and objects, all of whom were reburied at a later
date in a private ceremony on the San Xavier District of the
Nation.
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