Although the gates of the Colfax Indian Cemetery have been unlocked, members of the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe refuse to enter the property.

Colfax Cemetery District Board member John Dugan indicated the gates, which had been padlocked since January, were unlocked last week after the district obtained insurance on the property.

However, the policy comes with restrictions, Dugan added.

The cemetery was originally locked because the district did not have – and could not afford – liability insurance on the property, Dugan said. With insurance coverage now in place, albeit on a month-to-month basis, the cemetery was reopened.

“The insurance company wants us to follow the rules – no alcohol and no digging graves by hand,” Dugan said.

Fellow district board member Helen Wayland agrees.

“We have to follow state law,” said district board member Helen Wayland.

While the tribe members have been following their tradition of hand digging graves for years, state law prohibits the practice.

“We never realized it was illegal,” Wayland said.

A letter spelling out the insurance company’s restrictions has been mailed to the Colfax tribe, Wayland and Dugan claimed.

Even though she has talked with Dugan about the restrictions, tribe spokeswoman Judy Marks said the Indians are waiting to read the letter before re-entering the property.

“I understand where they’re coming from,” she said. “I’ve worked on crews with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).”

But, they don’t agree with the restrictions being placed by the insurance company.

Marks calls the alcohol prohibition “stereotypical” and argues that hand digging of graves should be allowed because it is a Native American tradition.

Dugan countered that the same restrictions are in place at the Colfax Cemetery.

Still another issue remains unresolved – ownership of the one-half acre property at the corner of Canyon Way and Iowa Hill Road.

“We want to get it out of our name,” said Dugan. “We just don’t want to own the Indian cemetery any longer.”

While the Indians believe the district should just return what they believe is theirs, Wayland explained the district can not make a gift of public land. The property has been used as a burial ground since the 1900s. Wayland has what she believes is the earliest recorded deed of trust, which is dated 1961 and lists the Colfax Cemetery District as the owners.

Marks said elders from the United Auburn Indian Community recall holding fundraisers in the 1960s to help pay back taxes.

“Why were we helping pay back taxes on land that wasn’t ours?,” she said. “There are a lot of questions that remain unanswered.

The district has offered to sell the property – appraised at $80,000 to $100,000 – to the tribe for $37,000.

Marks believes the sale price is inflated.

“The price includes $20,000 for back water bills and $7,000 for the lawsuit they lost even though the court settlement was only $3,000,” Marks said.

The United Auburn Indian Community has offered legal assistance, not financial assistance, she said, adding they are not interested in purchasing the property even though they have ancestors buried in Colfax.

“We’re looking for help from other tribes. We hope that through the tribal letters we will get some financial assistance,” Marks said. “And we’ve also written to Congressman (Tom) McClintock and asked for his support.”