The Kennewick Man Case | Court Documents | Affidavits & Declarations

Plaintiffs Memorandum in Opposition to Intervenors Request for Stay Pending Appeal

Affidavit of James C. Chatters

Alan L. Schneider, OSB No. 68147
alslawoffices@uswest.net
1437 SW Columbia Street, Suite 200
Portland, OR 97201
Telephone: (503) 274-8444
Facsimile: (503) 274-8445

Paula A. Barran, OSB No. 80397
pbarran@barran.com
BARRAN LIEBMAN LLP
601 SW Second Avenue, Suite 2300
Portland, OR 97204-3159
Telephone: (503) 228-0500
Facsimile: (503) 274-1212

Attorneys for Plaintiff

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON

ROBSON BONNICHSEN, C. LORING BRACE, GEORGE W. GILL, C. VANCE HAYNES, JR., RICHARD L. JANTZ DOUGLAS W. OWSLEY, DENNIS J. STANFORD and D. GENTRY STEELE

Plaintiffs,

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, FRANCIS P. McMANAMON, DAVID A. FASTABEND, EDWARD J. KERTIS, THOMAS E. WHITE, GALE A. NORTON, CRAIG MANSEN, ROBERT G. FLOWERS,

Defendants.

CV. 96-1481 JE

AFFIDAVIT OF JAMES C. CHATTERS
(November , 2002)

STATE OF WASHINGTON
County of King

I, James C. Chatters, being first duly sworn, do depose and state as follows:

1. I am an anthropologist, currently employed by an environmental consulting company in the Seattle, Washington area. For more than 30 years, I have been involved in archaeological and anthropological research and consulting work in the Pacific Northwest including the area around Kennewick, Washington. My professional qualifications are more fully described in earlier affidavits filed with the Court. See e.g. attachment to Plaintiffs' Motion for Order Granting Access to Study (Docket No. 62).

2. On numerous occasions I have worked with tribal council members and other representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to exhume, analyze, and repatriate human skeletal remains affiliated with those tribes. Such projects included the following:

In the summer of 1982, the remains of a single adolescent male skeleton were recovered on the Colville Reservation, near Elmer, Washington, during a project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Tribal council members visited the site after discovery and gave their approval for exhumation and study. I worked with Army Corps archaeologists and a tribal representative to develop an appropriate study plan, which included cranial and post-cranial measurements, paleopathological analysis, musculoskeletal analysis, and radiocarbon dating and isotopic analysis of bone collagen. The data obtained from these studies were published in a report without tribal objection. See Chatters, J. C. 1984. Dimensions of Site Structure: The Archaeological Record from Two Sites in Okanogan County, Washington. U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Seattle.
In July 1983, I worked on the recovery, analysis and reburial of a single adult male skeleton found along Bonaparte Creek in Okanogan County, Washington, during a project conducted for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. My work was conducted in close coordination with a tribal representative and included measurements, paleopathological analysis, and radiocarbon dating and carbon isotope analysis of human bone. The data obtained from these studies were published in a report without tribal objection. See Chatters 1985 Forensic Analysis of a Prehistoric Interment, Bonaparte Creek, Okanogan Co., Washington. Central Washington Archaeological Survey. Archaeological Report, 85-1, Central Washington University, Ellensburg.
I later worked on the recovery, analysis, and reburial of the remains of five cremated individuals found near Ellisford, Okanogan County, Washington. The work included measurements, paleopathological analysis, and radiocarbon dating and isotopic analysis of human bone (which required use of three proximal femora). This work was done for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in close coordination with a tribal representative. The data obtained from these studies were published in a report without tribal objection. See 1986. The Ellisford Cremations: Internecine Hostilities in the 5th century A.D. Central Washington Archaeological Survey. Archaeological Report 86-1. Central Washington University, Ellensburg.
In 1986, I worked on the recovery, analysis, and reburial of the remains of nine individuals found near Oroville, Okanogan County, Washington. This work was done for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in close coordination with a tribal representative. I also conducted an interview about the discovery and our analysis results with an elder whose words were translated by her nephew, who was or had recently been a member of the tribal council. Investigation of these remains included measurements, paleopathological analysis, radiocarbon dating of preserved human tissue, and isotopic analysis of human bone. The data obtained from these studies were published in a report without tribal objection. See J. C. Chatters and M. W. Zweifel. 1987 The Cemetery at Sntlxwenewexwtn. Central Washington Archaeological Survey Archaeological Report 87-1. Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington.
In February 1993, I was asked by a tribal representative if I would be available to assemble and analyze human remains recovered in the early 1960s from three cemeteries near the mouth of the Okanogan River, some on the Colville Reservation. I was asked to conduct radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses of the remains, which I did in close coordination with the tribal representative. We also discussed the prospects of conducting DNA analysis and trace element analyses, but decided not to do so because DNA was at the time too expensive and trace element analyses would not produce the data the tribal representative wanted for use in a legal claim. Following the discovery of Kennewick Man, the tribe demanded that I cease work on these skeletons. I complied with that request.

3. In addition to the above reports, I have made public presentations on these various studies and published one peer-reviewed scholarly article, without objection from tribal representatives. See Chatters, J. C. 1989. Pacifism and the Organization of Conflict on the Plateau of Northwestern America. In Cultures in Conflict: Current Archaeological Perspectives, edited by D.C. Tkaczuk and B. C. Vivian, pp. 241-252. University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.

4. In the late 1980s, human bones were publicly displayed at a museum staffed by members of the Wanapum Band and developed in collaboration with the Band. I know that museum attendants who belonged to the Band were aware that the bones in question were human because I personally brought this matter to their attention. Public display of the bones continued for more than two years after I first raised the issue with the Band.

5. In 1964 I worked on the recovery of a human skeleton from a cemetery at the mouth of the Palouse River. Analyses of the skeleton were conducted in coordination with Nez Perce Tribe.

6. I am acquainted with the work and archaeological activities of Dr. Manfred Jaehnig, Archaeologist for the CTUIR, and Mr. Brent Hicks, an archaeological employee of the Colville Confederated Tribes. Neither is qualified to render an evaluation of the merits of the plaintiffs' study plan. They are not physical anthropologists. As far as I am aware, neither has extensive experience (if any experience at all) in the interdisciplinary study and analysis of human skeletal remains.

7. The objections raised by Dr. Jaehnig and Mr. Hicks in their affidavits concerning redundancy and potential damage to the skeleton are not well taken. Replicative study is the basis of sound science. It is the primary reason I contacted Drs. Steele and Owsley (as well as others) after discovering the skeleton's age. Since observations made by any individual can be affected by his or her training, biases and interests, multiple studies are essential for a full understanding of the information that can be provided by an important find like this one. Other countries committed to understanding the past like Germany (Neanderthal remains), France (Cro Magnon and earlier human remains) and Kenya (many species of early hominids) continue to allow studies of skeletal remains even after numerous other (often similar) studies have been performed. As for the claim of potential damage, any bones from this skeleton that remained on the discovery site beach were almost certainly crushed by the rip-rap dropped on the site by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the guise of protection. Reburial of the skeleton as advocated by the tribes will result in its certain destruction. Plaintiffs' study team, on the other hand, seeks to preserve the skeleton so all humanity can learn from it.

DATED this ____ day of November, 2002.

[signed]

James C. Chatters

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