Michael Hurley, a current student, retired Army major and amateur woodworker is chairman of the Schuyler Flatts Burial Container Committee, and this Saturday, April 30, he and his colleagues at Northeastern Woodworkers Association, will be presenting burial containers they made for a very special project to re-inter the remains of 14 salves found buried in Colonie in 2005.
From the project website:
“The Schuyler Flatts Burial Project was created to provide an honorable, dignified and respectful burial for the human skeletal remains of 14 African Americans found in Colonie. Investigations revealed that during the 18th and early 19th centuries, the location was a Negro burial ground in an area described as Schuyler Flatts, which was part of a large estate owned by the Colonial Schuyler family.
On June 5th, 2005 construction work in the Town of Colonie, NY (Route 32 near Menands/Watervliet) revealed an unmarked burial ground. Archaeologists discovered 13 sets of remains plus another set of remains was found in 1998. A total of 14 individuals were discovered.
In 2010, bioarchaeological analysis was completed by the NYS Museum. The analyses determined that the remains are about 200 years old and represent 6 women, 1 man, 2 children, and five infants. DNA analysis concluded that four of the individuals are of African descent. (West/East and Central Africa) Two sets of remains are descendants of women from Madagascar (off the coast of Southeast Africa). One individual, who may have been of mixed ancestry, was descendant from a Native American woman (possibly Micmac Tribe: Eastern Canada and the Northeastern corner of the United States). The burial ground was dated between the 1700s and early 1800s. Historical research indicates that the burial ground was part of a large estate owned by the colonial Schuyler family who owned a number of slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries.”
There will be an artist presentation and a public meeting about the project from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the New York State Museum (Huxley Theatre). The public is welcome to attend. For more information, go to: http://schuylerflattsburialground.blogspot.com/
Published: Thu, 28 Apr 2016 12:10:05 +0000 by e.bryant