Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006

Hastings introduces bill to allow study of ancient remains

By Andrew Sirocchi, Herald staff writer

Kennewick Man's decade-old legal problems have been well documented since his 9,300-year-old skeleton was discovered.

Now a new bill sponsored by Congressman Doc Hastings seeks to ensure that future archaeological finds will be spared from years of courtroom tug of war.

The Fourth District Republican announced Wednesday that he has drafted a revision to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act stating that ancient remains should be studied by scientists and not automatically turned over to tribes.

"The fact that it took nearly a decade to reach a decision about the fate of Kennewick Man is proof positive that the law needs clarification," Hastings said in a statement. "Scientific study of ancient remains is important to our understanding of early history and can be done while respecting today's tribes."

Discovered along the banks of the Columbia River in 1996, Kennewick Man unearthed a heated debate about how scientists should deal with ancient remains that have no proven connection to present-day Native American tribes. For some, there should be no question.

Armand Minthorn, a member of the board of trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, said any ancient remains in the United States would by definition be Native American and should not be studied without tribal approval first.

"NAGPRA is human rights legislation and it should remain that way," Minthorn said. "Mr. Hastings isn't respecting tribal rights by letting scientists study first. No one should be allowed to study (remains) without our permission first."

Relationships between tribal representatives who hold Kennewick Man's remains sacred and the scientists who want to study him have been strained almost from the start.

After the archaeological find, five Northwest Native American tribes claimed Kennewick Man as an ancestor and asked for his bones to be given to them. The tribes -- the Wanapum Band, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakama Nation -- wanted the skeleton to be reburied without study.

Meanwhile, eight prominent archaeologists sued the federal government in an effort to study the bones, touching off years of legal wrangling. It all came to a halt when a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004 cleared the way for scientists to study Kennewick Man.

Scientists and supporters say that decision went their way but concerns over the rights to ancient remains have trumped scientists' efforts to study fossils in Montana, Nevada and Oregon.

Cleone Hawkinson, president and one of the founding members of the Portland-based Friends of America's Past, said her organization has worked for years to keep Kennewick Man's legal struggles in the public eye.

"There have been a lot of lost items due to inappropriate implementation of NAGPRA," Hawkinson said. "Agencies have made some very arbitrary decisions. There's a lot of confusion about how to implement NAGPRA."

Hawkinson said NAGPRA needs to be revised in order to be applied and interpreted consistently across the country.

Despite the 9th Circuit's ruling, Hastings said he is concerned future actions by federal agencies or the courts could prevent archaeological treasures such as Kennewick Man from being studied.

His bill also is aimed at countering legislation that twice was introduced by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The legislation, which has not come up for a vote, has been bitterly protested by archeologists and scientists who fear that a two-word amendment to NAGPRA would put many of America's prehistoric artifacts under the purview of Native American tribes.

The McCain bill would allow ancient remains to be automatically turned over to Native American claimants even when a substantial relationship to present-day tribes is lacking, its critics say.