Miakan-Garza Band seeks return of remains from UT Austin

Approximately 100 Indigenous students at the University of Texas at Austin gathered in an effort to have UT return three ancestral remains from Hays County to the Miakan-Garza Band of the Coahuiltecan people.

Students shouted “return the remains” during a pilgrimage and prayer event that took place Friday.  The Miakan-Garza tribe intends to rebury their three ancestors in the City of San Marcos’ Sacred Springs Reburial Grounds, a cemetery they helped to establish in 2016.

“We believe that when a person dies, two processes begin,” said Dr. Mario Garza, Cultural Preservation Officer for the Miakan-Garza tribe. “First the body is buried and becomes part of the life cycle of Mother Earth. Then the spirit begins its journey to the Great Mystery.”