"A state appellate court ruling has given new life to a lawsuit filed by the tiny Havasupai nation over blood samples that the tribe was told would be used for the study of tribal diabetes but instead were used for other research.

Back in 2004, we wrote "Indian Givers," a chilling yarn about how genetic researchers at Arizona State University had misled many members of the Havasupai, who live on the floor of the western Grand Canyon (see photo), into providing blood samples for what they claimed might help solve the diabetes epidemic plaguing the tribe.

However, then-ASU Professor Therese Ann Markow and others primarily used the blood samples to study tribal schizophrenia, inbreeding, and migration patterns -- without getting the proper (or any) permission to do so from the donors.

The studies of migration patterns was particularly galling to tribal members, and raised serious questions about the complex intersection of modern science and the cultures of indigenous peoples."

Get the Story:
Court Ruling on Havasupai Blood Case Good News for Tiny Tribe (The Phoenix New Times 12/15)

Arizona Appeals Court Decision:
Havasupai Tribe v. Arizona Board of Regents (November 30, 2008)

Related Stories:
Editorial: Cultures collide in Havasupai lawsuit (12/5)
Havasupai Tribe seeks justice in research lawsuit (12/2)
Higher Ed: In Havasupai suit, whose blood is it? (12/1)
Suit over Havasupai blood research dismissed (05/04)
Havasupai Tribe presses suit over misuse of blood (11/21)
Havasupai Tribe sees support for research lawsuit (11/01)
Lawsuit over Havasupai blood moved to state court (5/5)
Scientist not sorry for using tribal members' blood (03/24)
ASU refutes claims of misuse of tribal members' blood (03/18)
Havasupai Tribe files $50M suit over misuse of blood (3/16)
Havasupai tribal members sue over use of blood (3/1)