There was case in Washington a few years ago of a skeleton found in Kennewick WA. The problem was, after reconstructing his face from the scull, he looked an awful lot lake a white guy. Looked a lot like Patrick Stewart actually.
The local tribes immediately sued to have all research stopped, and the remains handed over to them. Their argument was basically the same.
"Our people have been here since the beginning of time, so he must be one of our tribe. And how dare you question us anyway."
It did raise a lot of questions about human migration to North America, and put a serious dent in the claims of the Indians who have always claimed to be the "First Americans".
Google "Kennewick Man"