Former Tuckahoe Mayor Omayra Andino took action after learning how the Lenape lost their land.
A restoration project along the creek in Twin Pines Park led to the discovery a couple of weeks ago, that was confirmed by the county coroner.
Roughly 73 square miles of ancestral homelands once belonging to California's Yurok Tribe have been returned to them.
While the Yountville resident paid off his $900 loan within two months, he was still on the hook for $2,646.69 in interest charges.
The California Native Homeland Festival highlights deep traditions that focus on the relationship we have with the landscape around us. Learn more here:
For decades, thousands of Native American ancestral remains have been stored away in museums and academic institutions across California, despite a federal law requiring their return to descendants.