Monday, May 02, 2016

It’s official: Kennewick Man is Native American

The Seattle Times
April 27, 2016

Five tribes claiming Kennewick Man as a relative will work together to rebury him after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday it has validated the skeleton is Native American.

Scientists at the University of Chicago this month documented they were able to independently validate last summer’s scientific findings as to the skeleton’s ancestry by at least three lines of evidence, said John Novembre, associate professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago, who led the review.

The validation was part of a federal process to allow repatriation of the skeleton. The team’s finding clears the way for the next steps, in which potential claimants of the remains must document their cultural connection to the Ancient One, as tribes refer to the skeleton.

Kennewick Man is one of the oldest and most complete skeletons discovered in North America, dating back nearly 9,000 years. Debate has continued since the 1996 discovery as to whether the remains should continue to be studied by scientists, or reburied, as tribes have long wished.

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