Op Ed: US Senate Bill Gives Native Americans Religious Veto

In a Seattle Times op-ed today, University of Tennessee Anthropology Professor Richard L. Jantz calls attention to an upcoming hearing before the US Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Senate Bill 536 (Sec. 108). It will amend Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) to give Native American tribes broader control over pre-historic human remains found in the United States. According to Prof. Jantz, the amendment "would automatically give tribes the authority to control all evidence that may contradict their particular religious beliefs and give tribes complete veto power over scientific research on those remains." Those supporting the amendment claim that provisions in the Act limiting tribes' control to remains with which they can show a cultural affiliation will prevent the problem. Dr. Jantz disagrees. The amendment would codify an interpretation that the government unsuccessfully argued for in Bonnichsen v. US, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Case decided act year.