Lawsuits settled over alleged misuse of Ariz. Indian tribe’s blood samples given for research

Lawsuits settled over Arizona tribe blood samples

PHOENIX — An Arizona Indian tribe has ended a seven-year legal fight over blood samples members gave to university scientists for diabetes research that were later used to study schizophrenia, inbreeding and ancient population migration in what tribal members called a case of genetic piracy.

The Havasupai Indians, who live deep in a gorge off the Grand Canyon, settled their lawsuits with Arizona State University in an agreement announced Wednesday and approved by the Legislature’s Joint Legislative Budget Committee on Tuesday.

The Havasupai claimed ASU conducted the additional research without permission, invading tribal members’ privacy, betraying the tribe’s trust and misrepresenting what researchers had done with blood samples and subsequent research results.

The settlement includes a lump $700,000 payment to the 41 plaintiffs, and the university has agreed to help the tribe seek third-party funding to build a new health clinic and high school in the isolated village. ASU also has agreed to give the tribe the more than 200 blood samples, which members say will be buried in a sacred ceremony, some with the remains of the people who gave the blood.

“Their spirits will no longer be locked in a cooler,” said Carletta Tilousi, the lead plaintiff in the case and a tribal councilwoman. “We are going to take them back down to Supai Canyon so they can rest in peace.”

Tilousi, most of her family members and other tribal members gave their blood to scientists in the 1990s thinking it would be used to help cure diabetes.

The research was requested by Tilousi’s aunt, who was on dialysis and had to have a leg amputated because of diabetes before her death last year.

The research concluded that diabetes among the tribe was not related to genetics.

Tribal officials complained in 2003 after learning of the additional research and filed lawsuits after they weren’t satisfied when they met with university representatives. The tribe had asked for $50 million in its pre-litigation claim. Individuals who filed the other separate lawsuit sought $10 million.

Ernest Calderon, president of the Arizona Board of Regents, said in a statement that the board “has long wanted to remedy the wrong that was done.”

“This solution is not simply the end of a dispute but is also the beginning of a partnership between the universities, principally ASU and the tribe.”

Tilousi said she hoped the settlement would make a statement on behalf of all indigenous people that their cultures should be respected, not analyzed by scientists.

Havasupai Chairwoman Bernadine Jones said the settlement “is far more than dismissing a lawsuit.”

“The settlement is the restoration of hope for my people, and the beginning of nation building for my tribe,” she said.

Eds: CORRECTS to third-party in graf 4.