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The Kennewick Man Case | Court Documents | Affidavits & DeclarationsPlaintiffs' October 1, 1999 Status Report to the CourtAFFIDAVIT OF ALAN L. SCHNEIDERNOTE: Copies of the attachments for this affidavit are available upon request from Friends of America's Past. Email info@friendsofpast.org for more information.
Alan L. Schneider, OSB No. 68147
Paula A. Barran, OSB No. 80397
ROBSON BONNICHSEN, et.al., v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, et.al.,
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CV No. 96-1481 JE STATE OF OREGON County of Multnomah I, Alan L. Schneider, being first duly sworn, do depose and state as follows: 1. I am one of the attorneys for plaintiffs in the above-entitled matter. 2. Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 is a copy of a press release dated September 8, 1999 from the Department of Interior. It is my understanding that this press release was sent to various members of the print and broadcast media. 3. Attached as Exhibit 2 is a copy of a press release dated July 1, 1999 from the Department' of Interior. It is my understanding that this press release was sent to various members of the print and broadcast media. 4. Attached as Exhibit 3 is a copy of a letter dated August 3, 1999 that I received from defendants' counsel. This letter is the first and only request received by plaintiffs from defendants for recommendations concerning individuals and laboratories qualified to conduct radiocarbon dating of the Kennewick skeleton. Attached as Exhibit 4 is a copy of my letter dated August 12, 1999, responding to defendants' request and recommending Dr. Thomas Stafford, Dr. R.E. Taylor and the Oxford, England AMS radiocarbon facility. It is my understanding that defendants' contacts with Dr. Stafford and Dr. Taylor in the month of August only involved an exchange of information on the procedures and the amount of time needed for dating the Kennewick skeleton, and that neither Dr. Stafford nor Dr. Taylor were retained at that time to date the skeleton. I do not know if defendants ever contacted the Oxford AMS radiocarbon facility. 5. Attached as Exhibit 5 is a copy of my letter dated August 18, 1999, transmitting to defendants' counsel copies of the affidavits of Dr. Haynes, Dr. Stafford and Dr. Taylor that were subsequently attached to Plaintiffs' Reply (Motion for Immediate Response). Copies of those affidavits are not attached to this affidavit since they have already been filed with the Court. 6. Attached as Exhibit 6 is a copy of a letter dated September 9, 1996, to Colonel Bartholomew B. Bohn, II, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, from Donald G. Sampson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Confederate Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (the "CTUIR"). This letter was received by plaintiffs from defendants in January, 1997, in response to plaintiffs' first request for production of documents. This letter states that because of its age the cultural affiliation of the Kennewick skeleton "cannot be reasonably ascertained." See pages 1 and 2. Attached as Exhibit 7 is a copy of a posting dated August 5, 1999, from the website of the CTUIR. This posting refers to cultural affiliation of the Kennewick skeleton as "a task that tribal leaders say is likely impossible." See top of page 2. 7. Attached as Exhibits 8, 9, 10 and 11, are copies of documents received by plaintiffs from defendants in January, 1997, in response to plaintiffs' first request for production of documents. These documents reflect the involvement of the Department of Interior in the initial decision to transfer custody of the Kennewick skeleton to tribal claimants. It is my understanding that the individual identified as McKeown is Timothy McKeown who works in Dr. McManamon's office of the National Parks Service. The individual identified as John P. Leier in Exhibit 11 is, or was, an archaeologist employed by the Walla Walla District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 8. It is my understanding that on several occasions government representatives have made a tour of Northwest newspapers to meet personally with editors and reporters to give defendants' version of the skeleton and this lawsuit. Government participants in these tours have included Dr. McManamon and Ms. Stephanie Hanna, a spokesperson for the Department of Interior. It is my understanding that the issues discussed at these meetings were wide ranging and included defendants' plans for study of the skeleton. DATED this 29th day of September, 1999.
(signed) SUBSCRIBED and SWORN to before me this 29 day of September, 1999.
(signed)
Notary Public for Oregon Return to Affidavits & Declarations |
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