June 23, 2000
Pact Leaves Meteorite With Museum
By JOHN SULLIVAN
n a compromise that seeks to balance
scientific inquiry with cultural tradition, the
American Museum of Natural History and an
Indian group from Oregon have agreed that
the 15.5-ton Willamette Meteorite will remain
a centerpiece of the museum's new center for
Earth and space.
The brownish iron meteorite, the largest
ever discovered in the continental United
States, will continue to rest on its steel pedestal in the Cullman Hall of the Universe. But in
addition to a plaque describing the scientific
background of the giant rock, which scientists
believe plummeted to earth 10,000 years ago
from the asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter, there will be a second display describing its history and importance as a Native
American religious object.
Ellen V. Futter, the museum's president,
said the agreement was "predicated on mutual recognition of, and respect for, the traditions of both the tribe and the museum."
"It constitutes, we think, an enlightened
and constructive resolution to a complicated
and sensitive dispute," she said.
The fate of the meteorite, which has been
on display at the museum for nearly a century, was called into question early this year
when the Confederated Tribes of the Grand
Ronde Community of Oregon asked the museum to surrender the meteorite under a law
that calls for the return of Native American
artifacts from organizations that receive federal money. The group said that the meteorite
held great religious significance for its people.
The museum asked the Federal District
Court in Manhattan to deny the group's claims. In legal
papers, the museum's lawyers said the meteorite was a
natural feature of the landscape and not a religious
object as defined by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. The museum
bought the meteorite in 1906 from the owner of the land
where it was found, the Oregon Iron and Steel Company,
After several months of negotiations, which included an exchange of visits by representatives of both sides,
a compromise was reached, avoiding what most likely
would have been a lengthy and expensive court battle.
Though the museum will keep the meteorite, title to it
will transfer to the Confederated Tribes if the museum
stops exhibiting the object, except for periodic restoration and cleaning. The Confederated Tribes will also be
allowed to schedule ceremonial visits to the meteorite.
Kathryn Harrison, chairwoman of the Indian
group's Tribal Council, said the agreement represented
an important milestone in the history of the Confederated Tribes, made up of tribes that lived in western Oregon
until the mid-19th century.
In a speech announcing the agreement yesterday
morning, Ms. Harrison spoke of the history of the
Confederated Tribes, describing a forced relocation to
government reservations that led to shrinking lands and
a scattered, dwindling population. The tribes' independent identity officially ended with a government order in
1954, but she said members spent years fighting to have
their name restored. In 1983, Congress reinstated federal recognition, and 4,500 tribal members now live on a
reservation southwest of Portland.
Ms. Harrison said the Confederated Tribes had to
struggle to reclaim its history and identity, and the
meteorite was an important part of the group's tradition.
The Clackamas Indians held the meteorite to be a sacred
object and believed that a union occurred of the earth,
sky and water when it rested in the ground and rain
water collected in its many folds and basins.
Although the Confederated Tribes had sought the
return of the meteorite, Ms. Harrison said the group and
the museum found common ground in "the search to see
how the past came to be the present."
She said the compromise would allow both sides to
win: the museum would keep the exhibit and the Confederated Tribes would be able to keep its history.
you know who we are, the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde," she said. "We brought the past with us."