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October 3, 2008

Mystery bones are from Native American

By JOHN KLINE

It looks like the mystery of John Ray and his box of bones has finally been laid to rest.

According to a recent report released by the University of Indianapolis Archeology and Forensics Laboratory, the bones have been identified as belonging to a Native American of unknown sex, between the ages of 30 and 50, who is believed to have died of natural causes more than 100 years ago.

Ray, a resident of Park Forest, Ill., reportedly received the bones unwittingly as part of a purchase at an estate auction at the Shipshewana Flea Market in 1982. After the purchase he placed the bones in his basement, where they remained for the next 26 years.

Over that time period, several theories on the origins of the bones were raised, the most compelling of which was found written on a slip of paper included with the bones at the time of their purchase.

According to Ray, the paper — now lost — indicated that the bones were from a young Indian man claiming to be one of the last members of the Delaware Indian tribe who was beaten to death in a bar in either Michigan or Minnesota.

“I was relieved when I got the results,” Ray said, noting that the story had always troubled him. “As a parent and a teacher, it was really disturbing that it could have been a younger person that had been murdered.

“So when I heard about it I was just greatly relieved — not that the person had died, but that it was from over a hundred years ago, and knowing that the majority of the main story was greatly inaccurate,” he said.

Wanting the bones to be officially identified so a proper burial could be arranged, but not wanting to jeopardize his career as a teacher, Ray waited to release the story of the bones to reporters and police until July of this year — after his official retirement.

Once the story was made public, Ray contacted members of the LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department who helped arrange for the bones to be shipped to the Indianapolis forensics laboratory to be analyzed by renowned anthropologist Stephen Nawrocki.

The ensuing report, released in late September, lists the results of that analysis.

According to Nawrocki, analysis of the skeleton’s cranial measurements confirmed the Native American ancestry of the bones, while analysis of wear on the teeth confirmed an age of between 30 and 50.

Also determined by Nawrocki during the study was that the person stood an estimated 5 feet 3 inches tall, is believed to have died of natural causes, and whose remains were most likely removed from a protected, above ground burial site, such as a cave or rock shelter.

According to LaGrange County Sheriff Terry Martin, who worked with Ray on the case, what will happen to the bones now is somewhat unclear, as the exact tribe to which the bones belong cannot be determined.

“While they were determined to be bones from the 1800s, it appears at this point that neither state wants them, so I don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” Martin said. “When I asked what was going to happen to the bones, they said they couldn’t prove what Indian group they came from, so that’s why the state doesn’t want them and neither does Illinois.”

Martin said at this point it is possible that Ray may be able to retake possession of the bones if he so desires.

“They may choose to just send them back to the guy in Illinois, but as far as I know, Indianapolis still has them at this point,” Martin said. “I’m just glad that we were able to determine that it didn’t belong to a homicide or anything like that in the state.

“The man who provided the bones indicated that they could have belonged to a young man who was murdered, and that was proved to be wrong, so I’m just glad to see it wasn’t a homicide,” he said.

Ray, who was under the impression that the bones would not be returned to him, said it had always been his intention to have the bones properly buried if they were determined to be of American Indian origin.

“I’m very much into archeology, and it really disturbs me to see bones such as these in peoples’ living rooms and behind display cases,” Ray said, noting that if the bones are sent back to him, he would very much like to be a part of their return to an indigenous tribe for burial.

“Even though these bones are over 100 years old, I feel it is my obligation to do something about this.”

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