Nuu-chah-nulth want their blood back

The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council will meet later this month to discuss ways of getting blood samples back that were collected in the mid-1980s. They were intended for use in an arthritis study but were used for other research as well, without permission of the donors.

The Nuu-chah-nulth agreed to donate blood to geneticist Richard Ward, because so many band members suffer from arthritis. Ward's study was inconclusive.

Once the study wrapped up in the late 1980s, Ward left Canada for a new job in the United States. He took the blood with him, and began using it for anthropology research, unrelated to arthritis.

Ward admits he didn't get permission from the Nuu-chah-nulth to do the new studies. He says that wasn't uncommon given the medical ethics of the time.

It wasn't until recently that the Nuu-chah-nulth found out what happened to their blood. Ucluelet Chief Larry Baird for one, is angry. "This individual has got it, and who knows what he is going to do with it," he asks, "and how do I know we are going to get it all back?"

The Nuu-chah-nulth say they'll use the blood for new research into arthritis, but this time closer to home, where they can keep an eye on it.