Maria Darlene Pearson was a Yankton Sioux activist who successfully challenged the legal treatment of Native American human remains. She was one of the primary catalysts for the creation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act , Pub. L. 101-601, 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law passed on 16 November 1990 requiring federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American "cultural items" to...

 (NAGPRA). Her actions led to her being called "the Founding Mother of modern Indian repatriation movement" and "the Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....

 of NAGPRA".

In the early 1970s she was appalled that the skeletal remains of Native Americans were treated differently than white remains. Her husband, an engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, told her that both Native American and white remains were uncovered during road construction in Glenwood, Iowa

Glenwood, Iowa

Glenwood is a city in and the county seat of Mills County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,269 in the 2010 census, a decline from 5,358 in the 2000 census. -History:...

. While the remains of 26 white burials were quickly reburied, the remains of a Native American mother and child were sent to a lab for study instead. Pearson protested to Gov. Robert D. Ray

Robert D. Ray

Robert Dolph Ray served as the 38th Governor of Iowa from January 16, 1969 to January 14, 1983. He served in the United States Army. He received his B.A. in Business from Drake University in 1952 and his Law Degree in 1954...

, finally gaining an audience with him after sitting outside his office in traditional attire. "You can give me back my people's bones and you can quit digging them up" she responded when the governor asked what he could do for her. The ensuing controversy led to the passage of the Iowa Burials Protection Act of 1976, the first legislative act in the U.S. that specifically protected Native American remains. Emboldened by her success, Pearson went on to lobby national leaders, and was one of the catalysts for the creation of NAGPRA. Pearson was featured in the 1995 BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 documentary Bones of Contention.

Dallas County Conservation Board

She worked closely with the Dallas County, Iowa Conservation board for a prairie restoration and annual celebration called Prairie Awakening held at Keuhn Conservation Area. Maria and staff originally planned the event to continue for seven years. Since her death, it has become an annual event, drawing visitors from neighboring states, as well as a smaller international following. Prairie Awakening has acclaimed native dancers, drum groups and leaders coming together to celebrate and share native culture and heritage.

Trees Forever and Spirit of the Trees Documentary Series

Maria was the cultural consultant and worked closely with Trees Forever Founding President Shannon Ramsay to create the six-part documentary series on American Indians and their connections to trees and forests. Primarily funded by the U.S. Forest Service and completed in 2005, the series was narrated by Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman and directed by Catherine Busch Johnston, winning numerous awards including two Telly awards. Maria saw making the documentary as a way to educate people on the Native perspective of caring for Mother Earth and to preserve the wisdom of elders. Spirit of the Trees is copyrighted by Trees Forever and distributed by the National Film Board of Canada, with Maria featured in the "Circle of Life" Central United States piece. Because Maria was so well known and respected among tribes for her national and international work with indigenous peoples, she was universally welcomed along with the film crew. Shannon Ramsay is working on a book about their travels together to over 40 tribes and first nations, including Hawaii and five regions of North America.

Personal

Born in Springfield, South Dakota

Springfield, South Dakota

Springfield is a city in Bon Homme County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1092 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Springfield is located at ....

 as Darlene Elvira Drappeaux, she was given the Yankton name Hai-Mecha Eunka, which means "Running Moccasins". Maria was born on July 12, 1932. She married John Pearson in 1969, and spent most of her adult life in Iowa. Pearson had six children: Robert, Michael, Eldon, Ronald, Richard, and Darlene and 21 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. Pearson died in Ames, Iowa

Ames, Iowa

Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...

.