Ownership of 16-Ton Meteorite in Dispute

A group of American Indians says a 16-ton meteorite that will be the main attraction at the Museum of Natural History’s new planetarium is a holy tribal object and should be returned to Oregon.

The meteorite--about the size of a small car--will be displayed in the planetarium’s main hall when it opens Saturday.

The meteorite hit Earth more than 10,000 years ago and was moved by glacial ice to a hillside in West Linn, Ore. The Clackamas tribe adopted it as a sacred object, and the rainwater that collected in its deep craters was prized for its holiness.

“Songs given to us by the meteorite are still sung today,” said Ryan Heavy Head, a consultant to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which includes the Clackamas.

He said the meteorite called “Tomanoas” by the Indians embodies three heavenly realms--sky, earth and water. Clackamas youths were sent on vigils to the meteorite to await messages from the spirit world, and other tribes also made pilgrimages, said Heavy Head, a Blackfoot.

The Grand Ronde submitted a claim for the meteorite to the museum last September, under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The federal law gives the museum until Feb. 29 to respond.

Ann Canty, a museum spokeswoman, would not comment on the claim. But she and an architect of the new building made clear that it would not be easy to move the meteorite from the planetarium, officially the Rose Center for Earth and Space.

“Because the meteorite is so massive, parts of the facility had to essentially be built around it,” Canty said.

Tim McKeown, who oversees Indian claims for the National Park Service, said proof of ownership could decide the case of the meteorite or the two parties could reach agreement.

But McKeown said if the case goes to a federal review committee or to court, it may take time.

Heavy Head said he does not expect a harmonious exchange, given the effort and expense devoted to building the meteorite into the Rose Center.