Clark Township Board deeded the historic Old Mission Indian Cemetery in Hessel to the Native American Society for Historic Preservation (NASHP) in August, and the deed was officially presented to the society Thursday, September 7. The transfer is the culmination of the organization's goal to own the historical burial ground for American Indian people, who have been buried at the site at least since the late 1800s, and maybe earlier, said Dianne Yarnell, a member of the group.

"Old Mission Cemetery is significant to Native people in that it is still being operated as a burial site for Natives in the community," she said. "Many Natives in the community have relatives buried in Old Mission Cemetery and wish to be placed next to their relatives, when that time comes."

This cemetery will be used only for the burial of Native Americans and their families. Many family members have been maintaining the site since it was first established as a burial ground for those then known as the Les Cheneaux Band of Indians. The NASHP does not know the exact age of the cemetery, but does know there have been Native American burials there since the late 1800s, Mrs. Yarnell said. Many of the graves are unmarked, however a NASHP member specializing in genealogy is researching the history of the site.

"We assume the original old Catholic mission that was located there started the cemetery, thus the name Old Mission Cemetery," Mrs. Yarnell said.

In 1940, Michigan deeded the property to Clark Township for use as an Indian cemetery. Over the past 60 years, management of the cemetery has bounced between the township and Our Lady of the Snows, until the Native American Society for Historic Preservation signed a 99-year lease with Clark Township to use and maintain the cemetery.

Clark Township decided to convey the property to the organization to relieve the township of liability and maintenance costs.

NASHPbegan excavating a new section to add more than 200 new burial sites in 2005.

"The NASHP is thrilled with the township's decision to deed the land to the organization," Mrs. Yarnell said. "The NASHP has been negotiating this action for quite some time and with a lot of work, effort, and cooperation between NASHP, Clark Township, and Our Lady of the Snows, this has finally come to fruition. We couldn't be more pleased."

Our Lady of the Snows Church, which is next to the cemetery, and NASHP have a memorandum of understanding to exchange property.

"The NASHP will be deeding a portion of land to Our Lady of the Snows, since part of that land infringes on the church parking lot and directly behind the church," Mrs. Yarnell said. "In return, Our Lady of the Snows has agreed to deed to NASHP the access to the cemetery and additional land to use for expansion."

The cemetery will be approximately two acres in size after the land exchange.

Some of the sites at the cemetery still do not have names on them, so anyone with historical information about the cemetery or grave sites is asked to call (906) 647-2694 or 484-2721.

The Native American Society for Historic Preservation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of culturally significant areas.