One of the...ahem...bones of contention vis-a-vis Kennewick Man is that his skeletal proportions suggest he is some race other than Asian/American Indian. Some scientists speculate that he might be CAUCASIAN.
As to why that is important, if scientists can prove that a caucasian man was here prior to the generally-agreed upon arrival of the ancestors of American Indians, it has HUGE political implications. Most of which would bad for the tribes.
Which is why they fought to keep the skeleton unstudied.
After all, how can American Indians continue to gin up the grievance machine with cries of "we were here first!" if someone can prove that someone else was here before they were?
Not Caucasian, he's believed to be Ainu. There are 10-50,000 Ainu still alive on a northern island in Japan.
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