DNA work at the GeoGenetics labMIKAL SCHLOSSERThe Kennewick Man, discovered nearly 10 years ago on a bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington, was Native American, according to a study published today (June 18) in Nature—a finding that could have significant legal ramifications.
On the basis of its narrow skull and protruding facial features, the 8,500-year-old skeleton was originally suspected of being Caucasian (perhaps an early European-American pioneer), then Asian (possibly a member of the population that gave rise to Polynesians and the indigenous Ainu people of Japan). But Native American tribes have challenged these conclusions, claiming the Kennewick Man as one of their own. The tribes call him the Ancient One, and appealed to the US court system to allow them to bury what they considered to be sacred remains. In 2004, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with scientists who wanted the right to study the skeleton, stating that it was not protected under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) because ...
