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[article provided by LH. Thanks!]

http://www.spokane.net/news-story.asp?date=022000&ID=s745908&cat=section.tribal_news

 February 20, 2000
Nez Perce ask halt to DNA tests
Tribe wants ancient skeleton of Kennewick Man returned

Associated Press -

The Nez Perce Tribe is urging U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to halt
any further DNA testing of the remains of Kennewick Man, known to the tribes
as the Ancient One.

Two college students found the skeleton -- one of the oldest discovered on
the North American continent -- in July 1996 on the Columbia River in
Washington State.

In a letter to Babbitt, Samuel N. Penney, Chairman of the Tribe's Executive
Committee, asked that the government "turn away from this unwise and
ill-advised course of action." Northwest American Indians want the remains
returned to them so they can give Kennewick Man a proper burial.

The federal government said Feb. 18 that DNA testing will go forward.

On Jan. 31, the Interior Department announced a preliminary decision to
conduct the tests to try to pinpoint the origin of Kennewick Man, who is
more than 9,000 years old and an early Native American.

Last week's final decision came after days of discussions involving
representatives from five tribes and officials from the Interior Department,
the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Justice.

But Penney said the Department of Interior did not meet with Northwest
tribes. He said the agency violated the North American Grave Protection and
Repatriation Act, which requires consultation to take place on issues
regarding the return of ancestral remains to tribes.

"We absolutely disagree with the ... decision to go forward with the
intrusive and destructive DNA testing of these remains, particularly after
it has been established that the Ancient One is one of Native American
heritage and an ancestor of tribes in this region," Penney wrote.

Penney said it appeared the department made the decision to help determine a
specific tribal affiliation for Kennewick Man, but said DNA would not be
useful for such a purpose.

Memo: "Even if DNA testing could reveal tribal affiliation, it is very
unlikely that the remains of the Ancient One, found in an eroding bank of
the Columbia River, are preserved in a state which could yield valid
results," he wrote.

"Experts we have consulted on ancient DNA analysis have pointed out that the
procedures will be complex and time-consuming and may not provide conclusive
data," Francis McManamon, chief consulting archaeologist for the Interior
Department, said last week. "We feel, however, that it is worth the effort
in this case because of its peculiar circumstances to try to obtain genetic
information."

Penney and other tribal members maintain the Department of Interior is
ignoring its responsibility to American Indians.

"Apparently it's more important to satisfy the curiosity of a few scientists
than to respect the wishes of the descendants of the Ancient One that his
remains be returned to his home," said Arthur Taylor, Jr., member of the Nez
Perce Tribal Executive Committee. "Making more intrusive, destructive tests
would be both futile and, in the tribe's view, a sacrilege."
 

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