Bonnichsen诉美国政府案

Bonnichsen v. United States, 969 F. Supp. 614 (D. Or. 1997) (granting in part and denying in part motion to dismiss), 969 F. Supp. 628 (D. Or. 1997) (denying defendants’ motion for summary judgment), 217 F. Supp. 2d 1116 (D. Or. 2002) (setting aside administrative decision on remand), aff’d, 357 F.3d 962 (9th Cir. 2004), amended and reh’g denied, 367 F.3d 864 (9th Cir. 2004).

 

In 1996, a human skeleton over nine thousand years old was discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Dubbed the “Kennewick Man,” the skeleton was the focus of a dispute between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”), which sought to turn over the remains to Native American groups, and a group of scientists intent on studying the remains. When the Corps failed to respond to the scientists request for reconsideration, a group of them filed suit. The case turned on whether the Corp appropriately determined that the unearthed remains were Native American, or could be linked to any modern American peoples, and thus were governed by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGRPA), of 1990. The court ultimately concluded that the Kennewick Man could not be claimed by a present-day Native American tribe and granted the scientists access to the remains for research purposes.

 

Facts

In 1996, a nearly-complete human skeleton was found along the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. Radiocarbon dating indicated that the skeleton, dubbed the “Kennewick Man,” was over nine thousand years old. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took custody of the skeleton, which had been found on federal land, and published a “Notice of Intent to Repatriate Human Remains,” pursuant to section 3005(a) of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. § 3001, et seq. Having concluded that the remains were of Native American ancestry and thus subject to NAGPRA, the agency requested that Native American tribes present any claims of cultural or biological affiliation with the remains.

 

In April 1998, the Corps buried the discovery site of the skeleton’s. In January 2000, the U.S Department of the Interior (DOI), to which the Corps had transferred responsibility for the matter, announced its decision that the remains were Native American, based on the age of the remains and their discovery within the United States. Later that year, the DOI announced its decision to award the Kennewick man to a coalition of Native American claimants.

 

Court History

In 1996, a group of scientists filed suit in Federal District Court Any general jurisdiction trial court of the United States federal court system (one or more in each state). Also known as United States District Court.   Federal District Court to prevent the federal government from repatriating the remains before they could be subjected to scientific study. In 1997, the district court denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case, and subsequently the government’s motion for summary judgment A judgment granted on a claim or defense about which there is no genuine issue of material fact and upon which the movant is entitled to prevail as a matter of law. The court considers the contents of the pleadings, the motions, and additional evidence adduced by the parties to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact rather than one of law. This procedural device allows the speedy disposition of a controversy without the need for trial (Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004)).

summary judgment . In a second 1997 decision, the court remanded the matter to the Army Corps of Engineers for further administrative proceedings.

Back in district court in 2002, the plaintiffs challenged the intervening decision of the Department of the Interior to repatriate the skeleton as Native American remains subject to NAGPRA. Rejecting the DOI’s suggestion that all human remains in North America predating 1492 must be treated as Native American per se for the purposes of NAGPRA, the district court set aside the agency’s decision. In 2004, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court decision, concluding that Congress had intended NAGPRA to provide for the repatriation of only those remains affiliated with extant tribes. the Ninth Circuit ruled that since no evidence links the Kennewick Man to any present-day Native American tribe, the remains were not subject to NAGPRA and that the scientists could thus pursue their research.

 

Final Outcome

The tribes reportedly decided not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court for fear of the effect an adverse ruling would have on other tribal claims under NAGPRA. In July 2005, a team of scientists convened at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington to study the Kennewick Man.

 

文章来源：http://www.ifar.org/case_summary.php?docid=1179587769