November 5, 2002
Kennewick Man, draft rules for disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains on Seattle agenda
WHAT: Meeting of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee, which includes representatives of American Indian tribes, museums and archaeologists. The committee reviews and monitors implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990.
WHEN: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9, and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10.
WHERE: Walker-Ames Room on the second floor of Kane Hall on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington.
DETAILS: Three topics appear to be newsworthy. There will be a report on the court decision in the ongoing Kennewick Man case at 11:45 a.m. Friday. That will be followed at 1:30 p.m. Friday by the first of a number of sessions to discuss proposed rules covering the disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains. This topic also will be the focus of public comments and presentations starting at 4 p.m. Saturday and 11:15 a.m. Sunday. A dispute between the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and the Ho-Chunk Nation will be aired Saturday from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. The dispute revolves around the Thunder Clan War Bundle, which the Ho-Chunk have claimed as a sacred object under the terms of NAGPRA. The museum claims it has legal title to the bundle and questions its identification as a sacred object.
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For more information, contact James Nason, UW professor of anthropology and curator of Pacific and American ethnology at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at (206) 543-9680 or jnason@u.washington.edu or Paula Molloy of the National Park Service at (301)-806-0073 or Paula_Molloy@nps.gov
