The Tunica Treasure: graves dug up, then won back in court (Trudeau site, West Feliciana; 1967–1989)

SUMMARYThe Tunica Treasure: graves dug up, then won back in court (Trudeau site, West Feliciana; 1967–1989) [Connections: Louisiana (deep), Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDWindspeaker reports that treasure hunter Leonard Charrier found the 1731–1764 Tunica village site in 1967 and spent three years removing more than two tons of burial goods (beads, kettles, muskets, pottery, crucifixes). Litigation began in 1974. A 1983 district court ruled for the tribe, and the Louisiana Court of Appeal affirmed on October 15, 1986 (Charrier v. Bell, 496 So. 2d 601). The courts held that burial goods "rightfully belong to the descendants," and recognized that Native people see grave excavation as "the systematic despoilation of their ancestral burial grounds." The case briefs say the tribe could not trace "a perfect chain of title" to the dead, but the evidence was enough to establish descent, and that "Objects found in burial plots are not abandoned property." Wikipedia says the case helped lay the groundwork for NAGPRA (1990)

PATTERNA Louisiana court accepted community continuity as proof of descent without a perfect paper chain. That standard matters for every family whose papers were relabeled

LENS (WW9)The court said the ancestors were not "abandoned." Descent can be proven without the colonizer's paperwork

OPENThe dig dates differ by source (64 Parishes says the 1970s; Wikipedia says the 1960s). Read the opinion itself for exact language

SOURCESCourt gives tribe rights to artifacts (Windspeaker/AMMSA); Charrier v. Bell case brief (CaseBriefs); Tunica treasure (Wikipedia).