Posted on 06/29/2005 5:49:30 AM PDT by Pharmboy
After nearly a decade of court battles, scientists plan to begin studying the 9,300-year-old skeleton known as Kennewick Man next week.
A team of scientists plans to examine the bones at the University of Washington's Burke Museum in Seattle beginning July 6, according to their attorney, Alan Schneider.
Four Northwest Indian tribes had opposed the study, claiming the skeleton could be an ancestor who should be buried. The Interior Department and the Army Corps of Engineers had sided with the tribes.
But a federal judge in Portland, backed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled that the researchers could study the bones to determine how the man died and to find clues to prehistoric life in North America.
"What they're getting is absolutely essential baseline information that has never been obtained for this skeleton," Schneider said Tuesday.
The bones quickly attracted attention from scientists after they were found in 1996 on a Columbia River bank near Kennewick, Wash.
The skeleton is one of the oldest and most complete skeletons ever found on the continent. The long, narrow shape of the skull shows characteristics unlike modern American Indians, raising questions that researchers hope to answer with extensive study.
"Understanding human variation is really critical," said Cleone Hawkinson, Portland anthropologist who founded Friends of America's Past to support scientific access to the ancient remains. "We can't close off an entire chapter in history."
She noted the eight anthropologists who filed the original lawsuit seeking access had to pay for their legal costs and the research, or seek funding for it. No government money was involved.
"It's all coming out of the scientists' pockets," Hawkinson said.
The researchers plan to do what is called a "taphonomic" examination of the skeleton, taking measurements and making observations about the processes that affect animal and plant remains as they become fossilized. Further study is planned based on the initial findings, Schneider said.
"Taphonomy is really a forensic examination," Schneider said. "You try to determine everything that has affected the skeleton from day of death until you study it."
A coalition of four tribes — the Umatilla, Yakama, Colville and Nez Perce — claimed the bones were covered by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and belonged to the tribes.
U.S. District Judge John Jelderks and the appeals court, however, ruled the tribes could prove no direct link to the bones and the act did not apply.
The tribes have appealed the most recent 9th Circuit ruling, but attorneys involved in the case and Jelderks' office said a decision still is pending. Calls to tribal officials were not immediately returned.
Legislation remains under consideration in Congress that would allow federally recognized tribes to claim ancient remains even if they cannot prove a link to a current tribe.
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On the Net:
Friends of America's Past: http://www.friendsofpast.org
Four Northwest Indian tribes had opposed the study, claiming the skeleton could be an ancestor who should be buried.
Someone should show up with a copy of "Kon-Tiki" or "The Ra Experdition" and say, "Hey he could be a Polynesian".
"Four Northwest Indian tribes had opposed the study, claiming the skeleton could be an ancestor who should be buried. The Interior Department and the Army Corps of Engineers had sided with the tribes."
Another example of PC gone wild.
Science is science, and fact is fact, no matter where it leads. (And who cares, anyway, whether some "white" people
migrated here before some "red" people? What happened to the "brotherhood of man" idea? Or is that incompatable with PC?)
What! And cast doubt on who were the First Americans?
"Legislation remains under consideration in Congress that would allow federally recognized tribes to claim ancient remains even if they cannot prove a link to a current tribe."
THIS IS MCCAIN'S DOING!
Mebbe it's DB Cooper!
The tribes are livid that this skeleton could show that white Europeans were in the Americas before the "Native" Americans. What they are also afraid of is the thought that these white Europeans were wiped out by their late arriving ancestors.
I am an Archaeologist, and I know they have very little to worry about because the field is so permeated by leftists that most likely the findings will conclude that the Indians had to kill off the evil whites who were actually destroying the land or some such nonsense.
Did they find a bag of money with him?
Don't forget the McLame amendment to some pending legislation, which would halt the scientists' work in its tracks.
How politically correct of them [/sarcasm]
If they did, they were smart enough to divvy it up among themselves and not tell anyone.
...once and for all the question of who arrived in America first will be answered....if the results are not on the native Americans' side...does that mean that all casino distribtions to these "native" Americans will be rescinded? Will we finally be able to use the phrase "Home of the Brave" without being politically insensitive?
We're waiting.
Check the dental records!!
Gimme 10 minutes...
>Legislation remains under consideration in Congress that would allow federally recognized tribes to claim ancient remains even if they cannot prove a link to a current tribe.<
Yeah, we need a law to ensure facts are never revealed.
Can't allow any scientific evidence to surface that might conflict with a P.C. agenda.
distribtions = distributions....(more coffee)...
The "Native" tribes are fighting this one and some other skeletal examinations because there is a very good chance that the testing will prove that Europeans/Africans were here either before or at about the same time as they were. It would destroy their moral/legal claims to the continent.
LOL!!
It won't hurt, right Doc?
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