The Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians, also known as the Kizh Nation, is suing Los Angeles County, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the nonprofit Cultural Arts Place, saying their ancestors’ remains were found in Construction of Mexican American museum mishandled in downtown Los Angeles
The defendants promised to move human remains exhumed from Los Angeles Cemetery No. 1 in 2010 into wooden boxes and then place them in individual graves in accordance with Catholic rites, the Kizh Nation said in a lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The suit said the remains were placed in paper bags and buried in a grave in the cemetery “in direct violation of Defendants’ express promises and warranties.” The lawsuit alleges that construction work on the square resulted in the “desecration” of more than 100 graves.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles is responsible for the management of the cemetery; the land where the cemetery is located is owned by Los Angeles County, and La Plaza de Cultura y Artes is a museum that opened in April 2011.
The Plaza is a community center that celebrates Latin culture through dance, music, exhibitions and more. The Gabrielleño Mission Indians are the original inhabitants of the Los Angeles Basin.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Daily News, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said it has told Los Angeles County that “remains should be treated with the highest degree of sensitivity and respect.”
Los Angeles County told the news outlet that during the construction of the plaza, the county “engaged in a well-documented public process to respectfully rebury the undiscovered remains.”
The agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The New York Times on Monday.
