Dispute Ends Artifact Exchange

Negotiations for an exchange of Indian artifacts between a Utah museum and Harvard's Peabody Museum ended on Friday with an argument between officials of the two institutions.

"We're not going to do anything. We're going to drop it," said Kenneth Kohler, head of the Fremont Indian Museum in Sevier, Utah. "We'll have plenty of nice things here, and we're not going to worry about them."

Kohler's decision to stop negotiating with Peabody marked the end of a two-month dispute over Harvard's collection of 2000 Fremont Indian artifacts. Peabody curators said the items, excavated by Harvard archaeologist Noel Morss in the 1920's, were the first such relies ever found from the tribe, which lived in what is now Utah more than 600 years ago.

The museum exhibited the Morss collection until 1981, when curators moved it to the museum's basement for research exhibition. The collection is open to scholars by appointment.

Kohler had claimed in early September that his museum had a legal right to the artifacts, but he withdrew that claim last week. This Friday he telephoned Peabody Museum Assistant Director Rosemary W. Joyce to propose a trade of Fremont Indian artifact collections.

Each now blames the other for an argument that started during that conversation. Kohler said he decided to break off the negotiations because Joyce "kept losing her temper" during their discussion. "Maybe she did have a right, but I just thought we'll drop it," Kohler said. "Usually people don't lose their temper when they're trying to negotiate."

Joyce, in turn, said Kohler made a veiled threat during the conversation.

" `Forget the loan. I just want to let you know that the Paiute Indians, [a tribe which lives near Sevier], wanted to make the dispute a lot nastier- There are plenty of people here in Utah who can make a lot of trouble for you,'" Joyce quoted Kohler as saying.

Joyce said she repeated the museum's refusal to discuss an exchange of artifacts until the Fremont Museum's directors acknowledged Harvard's title to the Morss collection.

The argument began, Joyce said, when shecriticized Kohler's handling of the matter.Peabody officials have criticized Kohler sinceSeptember for trying to impugn Harvard's title tothe collection through the press, while dealingdirectly with the Peabody only once, in a letter.

Kohler repeated that he had no idea where thepress had heard of the story, Joyce said. WhenJoyce questioned Kohler about a September 5 BostonGlobe story in which Kohler was quoted, "he becameirritated," she said.

Joyce said Kohler then told her he had notdealt with the Peabody directly because hereceived an "offensive" letter from the museum inSeptember. The letter described the procedures andcosts of a possible loan, Joyce said