Tuesday, Jun. 19, 2001

Judge hears Kennewick Man testimony, won't make immediate judgment as hearing continues

By Andy Perdue Herald staff writer

PORTLAND, Ore. -- After an exhausting day of testimony to a packed courtroom, Magistrate John Jelderks recessed his hearing into the fate of the 9,200-year-old Kennewick Man bones until Wednesday.

Jelderks emphasized that he will not make an oral judgment at the conclusion of Wednesday's testimony.

"This deserves a carefully crafted opinion," Jelderks said. "You won't get a decision tomorrow."

Much of Tuesday's discussion focused on the meanings of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act, which is the focus of this case. At one point, Jelderks suggested geography and oral tradition aren't enough to determine the ancient skeleton's affiliation with modern American Indian tribes.

Tuesday's proceedings were held amid an almost carnival atmosphere. More than 100 people packed the courthouse, with many standing along the walls. There were about 20 lawyers and nearly as many journalists, who had a bird's eye view of the testimony from the jury box.

Many tribal members sat in the back to watch and listen, and the scientists involved in the lawsuit sat behind their lawyers at the front. In addition to lawyers for the scientists and the Interior Department, many of the tribes also were legally represented.

James Chatters, the scientist who studied the bones before they were seized by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1996, sat in the audience.

During a break for lunch, television reporters swarmed around key players in the drama, seeking insights.

The battle centers on the 9,200-year-old bones that were found in July 1996 in the Columbia River during the annual hydroplace races in Kennewick, Wash., a city 250 miles southeast of Seattle.

Chatters, then a consultant for the Benton County coroner, was asked to look at the bones after they were found. He concluded they were ancient, which carbon testing backed up as more than 9,000 years old. But he also observed they were not American Indian in nature.

The discovery caused an uproar as area tribes demanded the bones to be reburied under the federal NAGPRA law. After the Army Corps of Engineers took the bones from Chatters, it planned to give them to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

That's when eight prominent scientists stepped in and filed suit to study the bones.