CTGR & Amer. Museum of Nat. History make deal on Tomanowas meteorite

[David Robertson]

Lhush san; qhata mayka?

The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community, together with the
American Museum of Natural History, "have agreed that the 15.5-ton
Willamette Meteorite will remain a centerpiece of the museum's new center
for earth and space."  There will now be added a display "describing its
history and importance as a Native American religious object."  The
meteorite apparently landed about 10,000 years ago.

CTGR had been requesting the return of the /cIlcIl stun/ under the terms
of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990.
The museum has had the meteorite since 1906.  The agreement just reached
avoids a potentially drawn-out and costly litigation process.

CTGR's chairwoman Kathryn Harrison is quoted as saying, "/alta mEsayka
kEmtEks lhaksta nEsayka/, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde."  (Well,
I translated part of that!)

The article in the Spokane, WA _Spokesman-Review_ today, Saturday, June
24, 2000 (page B4) on which my note is based was written by John Sullivan
of the New York Times.  An accompanying sidebar reads:

"CLACKAMAS TRIBE
	The Willamette Meteorite holds tremendous religious significance to the
Clackamas Tribe, part of the Grand Ronde Tribal Council.
	To the Clackamas, Tomanowas -- as they dubbed the meteorite -- was
sent to earth as a representative of the "Sky People".
	The meteorite represented a union of sky, earth and water; tribal
hunters would dip their arrows in rainwater collected in its basins."

Dave


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