BURIAL GROUND DESECRATION PROTEST RALLY

Hello,

If this letter does not interest you, please forward to the appropriate persons, community, school, newspaper, members of Congress, members of the senate, media, political groups, church, or Native American groups, thank you.

My name is Daniel Castro Romero, Jr., General Council Chair of the Lipan Apache Band of Texas who numbers more than 1,500 members nationally. I would like to ask that you or your organizations support our cause on October 7, 2000, at the Universal City, Texas Golf Course between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. to protest the use of the small area known as the Lipan Apache burial grounds as a golf playing area. This is a confirmed Native American Burial Ground or Cemetery.

To illustrate the unthinkable and unconscionable acts better, I corresponded with the notable civil rights and liberties organizations, such as the Native American Relief Fund, American Civil Liberties Union, and NAACP to help my cause, without any response. Because of a system wide break down of morals and laws, the state of Texas advised me that human remains discovered at Universal City, Texas golf course did not occur and that the human remains returned were not Native American, nor does the Lipan Apache Cemetery exist, yet it was my oral history map that found the burial mound.

I will let you judge the facts below. In closing, I would like to ask for your support in attending our rally of recognition of the Lipan Apache burial grounds at the Universal City, Texas Golf Course on October 7, 2000, between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

This will be a peaceful event that will demonstrate to the state of Texas that the native American population will not let this continue.

The media will cover this event. If you have nay questions, please call me at (210) 566-8471, thank you.

Peace

Daniel Castro Romero, Jr.
Lipan Apache Band of Texas
General Council Chairman

CEMETERY DESECRATION CHRONICLE
(All documented cited in this passage are a matter of public record at the Texas Historical Commission)

1. On December 18, 1998, Mr. Romero a Lipan Apache lineal descendant filed a letter of complaint with Texas Governor George W. Bush, Texas Attorney General Dan Morales and Texas Historical Commission. Notifying them of the existence of a Lipan Apache burial ground at Universal City golf course construction site 41BX1270, according to his traditional "oral history." The State responded by stating that it was "a civil matter," and did nothing to stop the construction nor did they investigate the Native American lineal descendant claim under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

2. On January 4, 1999, Texas Historical Commission, Deputy Director, F. Lawrence Oaks, proclaims that they (All Parties Involved) "have worked diligently within the boundaries of the city's proposed golf course" that includes the " . . . Native Americans, that are keenly interested in both protecting the important sites" that have helped the "federal regulatory process." The State and city were in partnership in the cover-up of the desecration of the burial grounds at 41BX1270.

3. On January 25, 1999, after months of repeated warnings by Mr. Romero and the Army Corps of Engineers Forth Worth, Universal City, Texas golf course construction deliberately unearthed the "human remains" at the exact site where the Lipan Apache traditional oral history said they would be found on 41BX1270. Under the Texas Health and Safety Statues they should have protected the burial ground. Nevertheless, they denied the Native American lineal descendant claim made by Mr. Romero under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The State and federal government should have stopped the desecration before and after it commenced, but the state's racist attitude toward Native Americans prevailed.

4. On February 4, 1999, Universal City Government turned over the human remains from 41BX1270 to the Bexar County Forensics and the next day the Texas Historical Commission, without any investigative or a criminal report, took them into custody. Under current state and federal laws they should have examined the human remains for possible criminal investigation. They also should have informed the last know Native American Tribe that inhabited the area under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

5. On February 10, 1999, the on-site Chief Archaeologist Eric A. Schroeder, Paul Price & Associates, Inc. wrote to Universal City, Texas Government notifying them that he had personally uncovered "three small bone fragments" from the Lipan Apache burial ground at Universal City, Texas golf course construction site 41BX1270. Mr. Schroeder also informed the city to stop the construction, but this was not forthcoming and construction continued.

6. On March 1, 1999, Mr. Romero addressed the Universal City, Texas City Council Meeting on the human remains discovered at Universal City, Texas golf course construction site 41BX1270. This included the lineal descendant claim to the human remains found at Universal City golf course construction site.

7. On March 5, 1999, Universal City Government agreed to preserve and protect the remaining Lipan Apache burial ground at Universal City golf course construction site 41BX1270 with no further excavation, still the construction continued. Texas officials did not intervene or stop the continued desecration of the Lipan Apache burial grounds at 41BX1270.

8. On April 12, 1999, Texas Attorney General Office notified Mr. Romero the Attorney General Letter Opinion No. 89-7 (1989), 92-45 (1992), regarding the treatment and deliberate unearthing of human remains from the Lipan Apache burial ground at Universal City, Texas golf course construction site 41BX1270 with no action taken.

9. On April 28, 1999, Mr. Romero corresponded with Texas Governor Bush, demanding the judicial intervention by his office for the return of human remains from the Lipan Apache burial ground at Universal City Texas golf course construction site 41BX1270. They denied the request.

10. On May 1, 1999, Mr. Romero wrote to the Army Corps of Engineers Forth Worth demanding the return of the human remains from Lipan Apache burial ground at Universal City, Texas golf course construction site 41BX1270, they denied this request.

11. On May 15, 2000, Mr. Romero applied for an Application for Cemetery Designation with the repatriation of human remains at 41BX1270. Mr. Romero was the first Native American ever to apply to the Texas Historical Commission for a cemetery designation. Mr. Romero was the first person ever denied.

12. On June 8, 2000, On, U.S. Federal Judge H.F. Garcia of the U.S. Western District of Texas San Antonio, Civil Case Number: SA-99-CA-1028 HG ruled that based on the evidence introduced into the above mentioned civil action that the court recognized that the Lipan Apache burial mound was a "historic cemetery."

13. Finally, on July 10, 2000, Texas Historical Commission informed Mr. Romero that they denied his application because the human remains found were 4,000 to 6,000 years old. Mr. Romero argues that without an official examination there was no way to determine the age of the human remains, besides. The Lipan Apaches were the last recorded Native Americans in this area.