Forensic bones are not subject to [NAGPRA ]laws.

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>From the University of Nebraska Daily Nebraskan, 3/28/00
                  UNL professor may be fired
                  By Kimberly Sweet
                  Staff writer
                  March 28, 2000

Nearly two years after the discovery of the possible mistreatment of
American Indian bones at UNL, a faculty committee has recommended the
firing of a professor who worked with the remains.  In a special report,
the committee of six faculty members, appointed by the Academic Rights
and Responsibilities Committee, voted 4-1, with one member abstaining, to
recommend that anthropology professor Karl Reinhard be fired.

...

Twenty charges were brought against Reinhard by a UNL faculty member and
two members representing American Indian nations last spring.  A majority
of the faculty committee voted to indict Reinhard on 11 of the charges
brought forward.

The charges voted on by a majority of the committee "represent a pattern of
violation of and disregard for federal and state laws, UNL policy, and
professional and university codes of ethics, and call for severe penalty,"
the report stated.

Some of the charges a majority of the committee voted on include the
following:

That Reinhard conducted invasive testing on remains connected with the
Ponca nations despite opposition and against the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act and university policy.
That he kept remains in his teaching lab in violation of UNL and NAGPRA
policy.
That Reinhard breached UNL policy by publishing studies based on illegal
research done on remains. The committee also said he violated UNL policy
by making a false statement to get a research grant to continue illegal
study.
That Reinhard transmitted "unethical and immoral values" to students during
his tenure at UNL and created a "hostile" environment for American Indian
faculty, staff and students.

Reinhard said the committee acted on allegations rather than evidence and
that all the charges could be refuted with documents.  He also said that he
has been targeted unfairly for actions taken by university officials in the
past that damaged the university's image in its treatment of remains.
"This all comes down to the unwillingness of the university to accept
responsibility," he said.

When he came to the university, Reinhard said he was assigned to work on
the Omaha and Ponca repatriation projects by the university administration,
even though his primary research interests were in other areas.

Reinhard said he considered the work service to the university and not
tenure work. He also said he worked to create a positive image of the
university and the anthropology department to the Ponca Tribe, because
fighting existed between the two entities before he came.

Reinhard said he worked with former Vice Chancellor for Research William
Splinter to secure grants in his study of the Ponca remains and did nothing
outside of UNL or NAGPRA policy. "Ultimately, it was the university's
policy, not mine, to repatriate these remains," Reinhard said.

"All of the destructive analysis I am accused of never occurred."
Reinhard said his published research predated the work he did with the
Ponca tribes.

Charges that indict Reinhard for transmitting unethical values to his
students and providing a hostile environment aren't founded, he said.

"There is nothing in any of my annual evaluations that indicate this," he
said.  "And if people felt threatened, there were no police reports."

Reinhard transferred out of the anthropology department last year to teach
in the School of Natural Resource Sciences.

In its report, the committee wrote that the majority of Reinhard's work
extended beyond establishing tribal affiliation - which is outside the
boundaries of NAGPRA without tribal permission. The committee said Ponca
tribal members raised many objections to his destructive testing.

The committee also wrote that ribs found in Bessey Hall room 109 in 1997
were wrongly kept in the room, and that there was not enough proof the
bones were kept in the room for forensic purposes, like Reinhard said.
Forensic bones are not subject to NAGPRA laws.

The committee also wrote that Reinhard had positive reviews, even though
dissent from the American Indian community existed.

The committee wrote that Reinhard's grants and publications based on
research they found illegal was "encouraged and applauded by his department
and the university."

In the judgment that Reinhard transmitted unethical values, the committee
said he didn't do all he should do to model ethical standards to students.
The committee said he co-published many articles with students and involved
them in his research.

....
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.  Inside of a dog, it's
too dark to read." -- Groucho Marx


Robert J. Jeske, Ph. D.
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI 53201
414-229-2887 (office)
414-229-2424 (lab)
414-229-5848 (fax)
jeske@uwm.edu
http://www.uwm.edu/wcb.uwm/schools/532/156/rjeske/rjeske.html

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