BONES OF CONTENTION : INDIANS OBJECT TO CALTRANS DIG AT BURIAL SITE.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Straddling a mound of dirt next to Highway 126, a Caltrans archeologist meticulously brushes soil from a pelvic bone, the remains of an American Indian who roamed the surrounding river valley centuries ago.

Beside him, a dozen other state Department of Transportation employees work seven days a week sifting through soil, removing ancient bowls, mortars, hammer stones and arrowheads or fragments of American Indian bones believed to be from the Chumash and Tataviam tribes.

While surveying the road, engineers found the first of what would become an astonishing cache of skeletal remains from close to 17 American Indians, buried with their belongings.

Some of the artifacts date back 300 years.

Georgie Waugh, a staff archeologist, said Caltrans crews must follow strict regulations regarding excavations to preserve the remains of the American Indians who once had lived there.

``I have absolute admiration for them,'' she said.

Local American Indians monitoring the excavation believe one of the skeletons unearthed was perhaps a medicine man - a spiritual leader - because he was buried with a mortar and pestle. The soil there is rich in clay, helping to preserve the remains over the century, said Randy Angeles of the Tarascan tribe, a spiritual leader who blessed the site.

Caltrans officials maintain that the findings are being properly handled in accordance with state and federal guidelines, and that the Indians will be reburied at a site agreeable to their descendants.

However, among American Indians there is disagreement over the appropriateness of the excavation.

The Native American Heritage Commission in Sacramento chose Beverly Folkes, who is of Tataviam ancestry, to oversee the sensitive project.

Though Folkes is uneasy about any American Indian having to be exhumed, she said she is pleased with Caltrans' work.

``Caltrans has done everything in their power to be respectful of our ancestors. They haven't done anything to be disrespectful,'' said Folkes, who is on the board of directors at the Chumash Interpretive Center in Thousand Oaks.

Yet her task is a ``heart-wrenching'' one, she said. ``That first day when they found something, we were full of emotion. We cried.''

But during a meeting Tuesday of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission, John Tommy Rosas, a Chumash, accused The Newhall Land and Farming Company and Caltrans of desecrating the American Indian cemetery.

``I can't tell you how disturbing it was to see the bones of our ancestors put in gallon Ziploc bags,'' Rosas told the commission. ``This is burial desecration, the highest offense to a people, regardless of whether it's native or not,'' Rosas said.

Most everyone involved in the debate Tuesday was uncomfortable making the discussion public because security at the site has been a concern.

Rosas said he brought the issue to the Planning Commission only because he has been ignored by county staffers, Newhall Land and Caltrans.

``They didn't notify our people. They're also keeping us in the dark. Why?'' asked Rudy Ortega, who referred to himself as the chief of the Tataviam Fernandeno tribe.

Ortega, whose Indian name is ``Chief Little Bear,'' traveled with other American Indians to the burial site Saturday to bless the spirits.

``They are not suppose to be removed. The spirits do not want them to be removed. They want to be left alone,'' he said.

Some of the remains were taken to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where they will be analyzed, said Margaret Buss, a senior environmental planner for Caltrans, which routinely conducts its own excavations.

The remains that have not been unearthed are protected by a security guard and the California Highway Patrol.

Archeological records indicate that the human remains were either Chumash or Tataviam - tribes that roamed lands from the Channel Islands to the Santa Clarita Valley, according to David Whitley, an archeologist.

Whitley, who discovered the human remains in this area while doing consulting work for Newhall Land in 1994, said the two tribes were small, intermarrying over the centuries.

The burials are on property originally owned by Newhall Land, but controlled by Caltrans since at least the 1980s as part of its right-of-way to expand the highway to four lanes, said Marlee Lauffer, Newhall Land spokeswoman.

Caltrans learned about the burial grounds in December, Waugh said. They discovered several more graves and had to regroup and outline how they would handle the graves, long worn by agricultural equipment that has crushed some of the bones and artifacts, Buss said.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Map

Photo: (Color) Caltrans workers dig for Indian remains and artifacts at the excavation site along Highway 126 near Val Verde.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News

Map: (Color) Site where bones were discovered (Highway 126 near Val Verde)