Unearthing questions about 'Kennewick Man'
By Kathy Chu
The Unity News

It is a debate that goes back more than 9,000 years and pits ancient traditions against modern science. Today, it will be rehashed at the "Kennewick Man" panel sponsored by the Native American Journalists Association.

While scientists race to determine the ethnicity of the Kennewick Man, the nation's oldest and most complete set of bones, native tribes are fighting to rebury the skeleton, whom they believe is their ancestor.

At issue is the skeleton's skull and facial features, which some scientists believe belong to a Caucasian. If this theory is true, it will disprove centuries of belief that Native Americans inhabited the land before Europeans.

"This has implications for a lot of people," said Paul DeMain, a Unity and NAJA board member. "They say it will benefit us, but benefit what?"

Three years ago, a group of college students unearthed the skeleton near Kennewick, Wash. In February, the U.S. Department of the Interior chose a team of six scientists to piece together and study the bones. The researchers are taking 80 physical measurements of the bones, and plan to compare this data with information compiled on today's Native American population.

These scientists are not the first to study the Kennewick man. About three years ago, Jim Chatters, a freelance anthropologist, set out to reconstruct the skeleton. He has maintained that the large skull size and facial attributes resemble a "Caucasoid."

During his study, he glued bones together. Some researchers fear that in the process the chemicals may have damaged some of the skeletal remains.

Chatters will be one of the speakers at today's 2 p.m. panel, joining Vine Deloria, a history professor at the University of Colorado, and Armand Minthorn, spokesman for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Nation. The panel will take place in Room 211 of the convention center. Some historians are not only skeptical about Chatters' findings, but also question whether modern science can determine a person's ethnicity.

"Look around at your neighbor; we all have different head sizes," Deloria said. "All these purported tests [researchers] are conducting won't be able to prove anything."

Seattle's Burke Museum serves as the repository for the remains of the Kennewick Man. But Native tribes want the bones returned to them for reburial.

"I understand what scientists are trying to do," DeMain said. "But we want to say, 'Have respect for the dead. Let our ancestors rest.'"