Kennewick Man, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the World Archaeological Congress: A Matter of Heritage Law

The controversy over the disposition of the Kennewick remains that culminated in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision Bonnichsen et al. v. United States ¹ illustrates why archaeologists need to learn more about law and why lawyers need to learn more about archaeology. The emerging field of heritage law seeks to integrate the study of heritage values with the study of law as a values-negotiating mechanism and provides useful tools with which to tease out nuances of legal reasoning and intention in the context of heritage issues.