HURLEYVILLE – November is Native American Heritage Month and Catskill Mountainkeeper is calling on Governor Hochul to “honor and respect native nations” by signing the Unmarked Burial Site Protection Act into law.
“Burial sites are sacred places; they hold beloved and revered ancestors’ remains, as well as culturally significant funerary items,” said Katherine Nadeau, Mountainkeeper deputy director. “They’re located throughout New York State, wherever Native peoples gathered together, and many are unmarked, leaving them vulnerable to developers backhoes, looting, and desecration.”
She said until the governor signs the bill, the graves remain unprotected.
“This issue lies at the core of what drives Mountainkeeper to fight every day: upholding justice, while addressing the climate crisis, Nadeau wrote in a letter to supporters. “New York State needs to built out large-scale wind and solar infrastructure to speed our transition to a healthy and sustainable renewable energy future. But unless we establish a strong, respectful process for protecting vulnerable burial sites, development this infrastructure will unearth unmarked graves and perpetuate cultural injustice.”
