Their peoples had lived beside the Columbia River since time immemorial.

Any ancient remains found in this region were, by the logic of their oral traditions and their unbroken connection to this land, their ancestors.

They asked for the remains to be returned for reburial.

Armand Minthorn, a religious leader of the Umatilla, spoke plainly about what his tribe believed and what they wanted: “Our oral history tells us that our people have been part of this land since the beginning of time,” he said.

“We know how many of our people are buried in places like this.

When Indians die, we are supposed to go back to the earth.

That is our way.”

The U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, which had jurisdiction over the land where the bones were found — it was federal land, a managed section of the Columbia riverbank — initially agreed to comply with the NAGPRA claim.

They ordered the remains transferred to tribal custody for reburial.