Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But if you want your ashes spread across certain national parks, the National Park Service is saying no way.
Permits to scatter cremated remains will no longer be issued in Southwestern national parks where prehistoric American Indian sites are the prominent resource, announced regional director John Cook."The problem is a serious one that can have an adverse effect on both the Navajo and Pueblo people, as well as other American Indians," Cook said. "Navajo belief dictates that the dead must be avoided and their burial places left undisturbed. To expose themselves to locations or things associated with the dead could adversely affect their personal health and well-being."
On two different occasions, cremated remains were discovered spread across the great kiva at Casa Riconada at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. Maintenance crews carefully removed the ashes and returned them to the families of the deceased.
Burial of cremated remains or other human remains outside of designated cemeteries will not be allowed in any park in the Southwest, under the new policy.
Officials say the policy is reflective of the National Park Service's growing sensitivity to American Indian concerns and a respect for cultural traditions and ceremonies.
"They aren't abandoned by any means," said Ed Natay, chief of the region's Office of American Indian Programs. "Ancestors are still there. Spirits are still there. The Pueblo people still visit, still consider it the same as going to a lived-in place. And there is respect for all these sites among all the Indian people."
At least 23 national parks or monuments have been created in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas to preserve American Indian heritage.