In addition to the main lawsuit. Charrier has sued Harvard for return of the relies, which the University had decided to keep until the legal owner was decided. Harvard countersued, and the collection was recently transferred to the Louisiana State Museum because of renovations at the Peabody. The Tunica-Biloxi have also filed a federal suit asserting that they own the relics by right of their ancestry. All these claims have been set aside until the original suit is settled. The original suit itself has become so complicated that the state district court could not handle it and Judge D. Lenton Surtain Jr. has been taken out of retirement to hear the case.

The suit finally came to trial this spring and lawyers recently finished filing papers. The case has now gone to Sartain for a ruling, and Charrier expects a decision "any day now." But whatever the district court decides, the legal battle will probably continue; both sides have said they will appeal the case if Sartain rules against them.

The lawsuit has raised a number of complex issues including whether the find is legally "a treasure trove" or "property embedded in the earth"; what effect the fact that some artifacts are grave goods should have on ownership; and whether the Louisiana's Purchase treaty negated tribal claims to the treasure. The case is further complicated by Louisiana's legal system: it is the only system in the United States that is not based on English common law alone, but draws jointly on the French Napoleonic Code and common law. Because of this unique system, it is difficult to use court decisions from other states as precedent in lower courts.

One of the moving forces behind the states involvement in the case is Frederick G. Benton, a member of the antiquities commission who has represented the state in court free of charge. "Benton has always been there to always make the law come down as hard as possible on Charrier." Brain observes Benton has blocked settlement with Charrier, preferring instead to press his case in the courts.

An amateur archeologist himself. Benton explains that he wants to discourage future relic-hunters from destroying archeological information "We're not going to reward anyone who goes out and finds a treasure of the United States and digs it up himself," he says. "What we're talking about is a crude digger who has no respect: the net result is he probably destroys more than he saves," Benton adds.

Brain estimates that researchers have lost about half of the information they could have gained from the discovery. This is because Charrier did not keep records on the precise locations or positions in which the relies were found information which is as important as the relies themselves.

Brain says scientists could, for example, determine when the Tunicas converted to Catholicism by examining whether Indians from different time periods were buried in a Christian manner. He adds that archeologists could get a better idea of the Tunica's wealth if they knew where household goods were found: if artifacts in relatively good condition were found in trash pits rather than in homes, it would indicate the Indians were wealthy at that time.

Charrier admits that his excavation of the artifacts lost some of the information professional archeologists could have acquired from the site. But he defends himself by pointing out that he did preserve the collection as a whole, and did lend it to Harvard for a scholarly study.

Charrier contends that Benton's vigorous prosecution of the state's case will wind up hurting the cause of professional archeology. In the future, relic-hunters may avoid officials entirely and sell their finds piece-by-piece on the open market, he says. "Several sites may be found and nobody's going to find out about it--not LSU [Louisiana State University], not Harvard, not anybody."

Charrier is bitter about Benton's no-compromise position in the case and considers himself the badgered underdog in the battle for the relics "Fred Benton has nothing better to do than pick on a little man," he claims.

Brain notes that the lawsuit has frustrated not only Charrier's desire for money, but also his hope for some positive public recognition. Most of the media coverage of the case has portrayed Charrier in a negative light. Brain says, adding that he him self has generally avoided mentioning Charrier in his scientific publications on the Tunica became of the lawsuit.

But Charrier's experiences with the Tunica treasure have not discouraged him from searching for other artifacts. Currently, the trader is investigating several paddle wheelers that sunk in the 1800s and are now in dry channels. During a recent telephone interview Charrier remarked. "I'm just polishing up one of my current discoveries right now."