9,000 year old Native American to finally rest with ancestors

After a twenty-year debate about human remains found on the bank of the Columbia River, the Army Corps of  Engineers said Wednesday the skeleton actually was a Native American, and they plan to hand over the remains to a group of five tribes for burial, according to the Seattle Times.

One of the oldest and most complete skeletons ever found in North America, the remains date back almost 9,000 years, and the debate over whether he should be buried in Native American tradition, or studied by a group of scientists has been raging almost since the discovery in 1996.

The final brick fell into place when DNA from an ancient finger bone from the remains, named Kennewick Man, was compared to samples taken from members of the Colville tribe and genetic similarities were confirmed.

The area in which the skeleton was found was ceded by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in 1855, but the area would also have been visited or possibly inhabited by members of the Colville Reservation, the Wanapum Band, the Yakama Nation and the Nez Perce.  Each of these tribes consider the Kennewick Man a relative and they know him as the Ancient One.

It is suspected the five tribes will work together to determine the final resting place for the Ancient One, since being able to prove he was a member of a certain tribe would be very difficult and time consuming.  Traditionally the burial would be close to where the remains were found.

The remains were the subject of a lawsuit brought by a group of scientists that argued the skeleton should be preserved for additional study.  Douglas Owsley of the Smithsonian Institution said his research indicated not only was Kennewick Man not a Native American, but he most likely did not live in the Columbia Valley.  They argued the man probably lived near the coast due to high levels of isotopes found in his bones from marine-derived nutrients.

Meanwhile, the tribes say they welcome the decision by the Corps.  JoDe Goudy, chairman of the Yakama Nation, said the announcement was an acknowledgement for what the tribes had been saying for 20 years.  “Now we want to collectively do what is right, and bring our relative back for reburial,” continued Goudy.

Photo Credit:  (Chip Clark / Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History)