Report on Terms of Graving Yard Settlement

Today the PeninsulaDailyNews.com reports:

"THE SETTLEMENT signed Aug. 14 by Gov. Chris Gregoire, Lower Elwha Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles, Port Angeles Mayor Karen Rogers and Port Commissioner Bill Hannan includes these provisions:

* The tribe receives the central 11 acres of the 22.5-acre site that overlie Tse-whit-zen, an ancestral village and cemetery; $2.5 million to rebury ancestors, preserve artifacts and construct a museum.[snip]

* The Port gets $7.5 million -- 126 percent of its 2006 regular revenue -- and the shoreline slice of the graving yard that links Port properties on both sides of Tse-whit-zen. [snip]

* The city likewise receives $7.5 million for economic development, $480,000 to hire an archaeologist who will survey the harborfront for Native American remains, and up to $500,000 to attract businesses to town or to keep them here.[snip]"

The Peninsula Daily News of Port Angeles has been the go-to source on this strange and troubling story. If a final chapter is to be written, I expect them to write it.