did Arizona State University Genetically Rape the Havasupai Tribe?
This disturbing story is in the Nomber 2008 issue of Phoenix Magazine. Written by well known journalist Jana Bommersbach, the article chronicles the current legal battle between the Havasupai Tribe and Arizona State University about the tribe’s claim of misued blood samples. The article can be accessed online at www.phoenixmag.com . Between 1990 and 1992, more than 200 blood samples were drawn, gathered under the pretense of studying the high rate of diabetes among tribe members. Unauthorized research followed, samples were used to study schizophrenia, inbreeding and prehistoric migration. Running contrary to Havasupai beliefs, the research never would have been permitted by tribal leadership, court records show. UPDATE: In late 2008, The Arizona Court of Appeals reinstated the lawsuit. This action reversed an earlier decision to dismiss two previous lawsuits. The earlier suits were dismissed ostensibly because the claims did not clearly specify how the plantiffs had been harmed and wh
