Iowa Burials Protection Law
Part of Gov. Ray's legacy is the enactment of the first laws in the U.S. that protected American Indian graves. In the early 1970s Maria Pearson was appalled that the skeletal remains of American Indians were treated differently than white remains. Her husband, an engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, told her that both American Indian and white remains were uncovered during road construction in Glenwood, Iowa. While the remains of 26 white burials were quickly reburied, the remains of an American Indian mother and her child were sent to a lab for study instead. Pearson protested to Gov. Ray, finally gaining an audience with him after sitting outside his office in traditional attire. When Ray asked Pearson what he could do for her, she replied, "You can give me back my people's bones and you can quit digging them up." Ray cooperated with Pearson, and their work led to the passage of the Iowa Burials Protection Act of 1976, the first legislative act in the U.S. that specifically protected American Indian remains. This act was the predecessor of the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
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