The Lummi Nation has named Whidbey Telecom, Whatcom County and two federal agencies in the lawsuit filed April 27.
WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — The Lummi Nation is asking the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to immediately halt construction projects the Tribe says it cutting through ancestral burial grounds as a previously filed lawsuit continues through the judicial system.
The Tribe is asking the court to stop Whidbey Telephone Company and Whatcom County from “further disturbing ancestral remains” and allow the Tribe to access the area for damage assessment and reinterment of ancestor remains. In filing the request for an emergency injunction on Thursday, the Lummi Nation also filed additional legal arguments, documents and statements related to the work at Point Roberts.
A spokesperson for the Whatcom County Executive’s Office said Friday it didn’t have a comment on the legal action.
The lawsuit, which also includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Commerce because the projects were federally funded, alleges that burial grounds dating back 5,000 years were bulldozed to make way for a fiber-optic broadband project and that, in at least one case, a human skull fragment was lost. Attorneys for the Lummi Nation said trenches 1,000 to 2,000 feet long were dug through the burial grounds in three phases. Lummi attorneys say artifacts were repeatedly unearthed, but the project was allowed to continue.
According to the Lummi Nation, the disturbances were not isolated. The tribe alleges a pattern of construction activity that occurred repeatedly and, at times, operated in secret.
“Without timely reinterment, the harm is severe, ongoing, and accelerating,” Thursday’s court filing reads.
One of three projects involved 2.8 miles of construction “in a known cultural landscape,” according to information from Greg Werkheiser, the Lummi Nation’s counsel from Cultural Heritage Partners PLLC. Those named in the lawsuit also assessed damage on 1/10th of 1% of total construction, according to the counsel.
“The new evidence we provide the court today makes clear that the harm is not hypothetical or historical — it is ongoing. Each day that passes without intervention risks the permanent loss of Lummi ancestors and the Tribe’s ability to fulfill our sacred obligations,” said Lummi Nation Chairman Anthony Hillaire in a prepared statement.
According to information from Werkheiser, Judge Kymberly Evanson is expected to hear the case and determine whether to “intervene on an urgent basis.”
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