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the interment of a memorial of American Indian skeletal remains in the Smithsonian collection.

At a meeting hosted by David Rockefeller in New York on December 14 the Secretary, Senator Inouye, Members of the New York Congressional Delegation their representatives, the Mayor and representatives of other City officials, and representatives of the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Museum of the American Indian discussed these matters further. Senator Inouye proposed another compromise, the key feature of which is the establishment of a contractual relationship between the Museum of the American Indian and the Smithsonian.

Under the terms of the contract, which would be governed by the laws of the State of New York and would extend for ninety-nine years, the Smithsonian would preserve, maintain, exhibit, and store the collection of the Museum of the American Indian. The contract would provide for the exhibition of the collection in the National Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation of the Smithsonian Institution, to be established under S. 1722, and in the National Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation of New York, to be established at a site to be determined by the Museum's Trustees in consultation with City and State officials and the Congressional Delegation.

At the meeting a brief reference was made to the study currently being conducted by Cambridge Associates with funding provided by David Rockefeller and the City. The study is to determine the operating economics of relocating the existing Museum to the Custom House and to estimate the capital requirements of such a move. It is anticipated that a final report will be available within a matter of weeks.

Meanwhile, House Report No. 100-498, which accompanied H. J. Res. 395, making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1988, includes language allowing the Smithsonian Institution to use up to $200,000 to study the feasibility and estimated costs of options for the Museum of the American Indian that include:

• Maintaining the collection at one or more sites in New York City; 

• Co-location at one or more sites in New York City and in Washington, D.C.; and

• Relocation to a newly constructed site on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Before going forward it seems prudent to await the findings of the Cambridge Associates study which will address the first of these options and which may assist in clarifying various roles and prospects for continuing the Museum in New York.