The remains, including Spirit Cave Man, will remain in federal ownership. Although this determination is disappointing to the tribes, I am committed to a continuing dialogue with them on this and any other issue that comes up as we continue to determine the affiliation of human remains from BLM-managed lands. Cultural affiliation means there is a relationship of shared group identity which can reasonably be traced historically or prehistorically between members of a present-day Indian tribe and an identifiable earlier group.
Cultural affiliation is established when the preponderance of the evidence indicates a relationship.
The kinds of evidence reviewed can be geographical, biological, archaeological, linguistic, or based on folklore, oral tradition, historical, other information and expert opinion. Spirit Cave Man has been housed at the Nevada State Museum for nearly 60 years. The mummy is of particular interest to the scientific community because radiometric dating on artifacts found with the mummy indicate an age of more than 9,000 years. A request by the Museum to conduct DNA analysis and radiocarbon dating on Spirit Cave Man and other sets of human remains from the Lahontan Basin was withdrawn earlier this year. I am keenly aware of the cultural sensitivity of the materials from Spirit Cave and I have no intention of approving any research that involves invasive testing of the human remains until the Secretary acts.