Why Was Kennewick Man Reburied So Quickly?
by Kyle Rogers, 2003
Thousands of years ago Kennewick man lived and hunted in what is nowWashington State. His tribe was among the first to cross the landbridge into North America. He had a hard life and lived with manyserious injuries, including a spear point embedded in his pelvis. Hedied in his forties and was buried by his kinsman.
As chance would have it a volcanic eruption would provide a layer oftephra to help preserve his remains, and the shifting of the ColumbiaRiver would unearth him thousands of years later…
On July 28, 1996, spectators of a hydroplane race found bones along theColumbia River in Kennewick, Washington on land owned by the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers. The bones were deemed to be very old and wereturned over to an anthropologist by the county coroner. One monthlater, anthropologist Jim Chatters held a sensational press conference.The bones were among the oldest ever found in North America andappeared to have Caucasian features.The long narrow face, prominent chin, and tall stature of Kennewickman differed from Paleo-Indian remains. A now famous facialreconstruction done by James Chatters and Central WashingtonUniversity’s Tom McClelland shows a Caucasian man resembling the actorPatrick Stewart.
Key facial measurements of Kennewick Man show a similarity toEastern Russians and the Ainu of Japan. The Ainu are a Caucasianminority who once possessed the whole of the Japanese Islands. A peopleclosely related to the Ainu also once lived in Polynesia and manylight-skinned Polynesians (typically from the ruling class) have facialfeatures similar to Kennewick Man.
Kennewick Man was rapidly rewriting history, and scientificcommunities around the globe were anxious for exhaustive research onthe bones.
However, after James Chatters held his press conference, five Indiantribal councils sued for control of the remains under the NativeAmerican Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. The Indiansclaimed that the remains were of their ancestor based on their “oraltradition;” that modern Indian racial types have exclusively lived inthe Americas since the dawn of time and that the land bridge neverexisted. The tribal councils argued that the bones must be reburied outof respect for their superstitions.
Indian activists have long been fighting the study of pre-Columbianremains and artifacts to preserve their political clout based on theirclaim to be the sole possessors of North America before Columbus.
In August of 1996 the bones underwent extensive radiocarbon datingwith results ranging from 7,000 to 12,000 years and averaging 9,200.Radiocarbon dating is a somewhat flawed science because it onlyconsiders carbon-14 depletion from half-life decay and does notcompensate for the loss of carbon-14 by other factors. However,radiocarbon dating can tell us relative age, and only one Paleo-Indianskeleton has been found in the region that was of a similar age. It isalso reasonable to believe that Kennewick man is one of the six oldestskeletons found in North America.
Jim Chatters applied for permits to conduct archaeological digs onthe site under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1976. Asecond set of remains found in September was seized by the governmentand expatriated to the tribal councils before it could be studied. Thissecond skeleton is known as “Richland Man.”
In September of 1996 the United States Army Corps of Engineersannounced that Kennewick man would be handed over to the Indian tribalcouncil after a mandatory 30-day period for the scientists tocounter-sue. Eight anthropologists, including two from the Smithsonian(historically left-wing and politically correct), sued for the right tostudy the remains. Their legal request stated, “Repatriation willdeprive scholars of any opportunity or right to study this treasure,”and “Study of the skeleton would be of a major benefit to the UnitedStates.” Jerry Meninick, vice chairman of the Yakama Indian Nationreplied, “Let the anthropologists study their own bones.”
The Army Corps of Engineers ordered the remains and all researchsamples to be placed in a sealed vault at Batelle labs pending a courtdecision. However, the scientists were shocked when the Army Corps ofEngineers opened the vault and allowed Indians to perform religiousceremonies over the bones three times between September of 1996 andApril of 1997.
During that time a third party entered the legal fight. The AsatruFolk Assembly, which promotes Nordic mythology and white tribalism,counters the Indian suit claiming Kennewick man is their ancestor. InAugust of 1997 AFA leader Steve McNallan gained national attention whenhe held a demonstration in front of Batelle Labs with a dozen followersdressed in Viking garb.
In November of 1997, U.S. Rep Doc Hastings (R-Wash) introduced abill that would allow the scientists to study Kennewick man. Whilescientists across America praised the bill, Indian activists viciouslyattacked him.
On April 1, 1998 the Army Corps of Engineers, no longer wantinginvolvement, turned the remains over to the department of the Interior.On April 6, the Army Corps of Engineers horrified America’s scientificcommunity when trucks began dumping rocks and dirt on the site whereKennewick man was found. Earth Construction of Orofino, Idaho was paid$160,000 by the Army to cover 250 feet of the Columbia Rivers’shoreline with rocks, dirt, and trees. Indian activists praised theArmy’s actions.
Rep. Hastings and Senator Slade Gorton (R-Wash) appealed in vain toSecretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit to halt the destruction of theKennewick site by the Army. Hastings stated, “today’s’ actions by thecorps defies common sense and goes against the clear-cut congressionalintent.” The eight scientists who had sued for the right to study thebones condemned the destruction of the sight but said that they couldnot afford to sue the Army over it. They had already spent a quartermillion in legal fees over Kennewick Man.
In June of 1998 the Clinton Administration sided with Indianactivists and opposed the Hastings bill. However, Katherine H.Stevenson, an associate director at the U.S. Department of theInterior’s National Park Service, acknowledged that the scientistsshould have been given time to study the remains before repatriation ofthe bones under current law.
In late June the department of the Interior began mediation betweenthe scientists, Indian tribal councils, and the Asatru Folk Assembly.They all reported to Magistrate Judge John Jelderks on July 1. A planto study the bones was approved under the conditions that they be“treated as a human ancestor deserving respect and consideration,”
In February of 1999, scientists were allowed to begin specific testsapproved by the Department of the Interior. On September 2000, researchwas halted on orders from the Department of the Interior. SecretaryBruce Babbitt cited the “oral tradition” of regional Indians asevidence that the remains belonged to them. Kennewick Man was stored tothe protective care of Burke Museum in Washington pending furtheraction by the courts, where he remains as of the writing of thisarticle.
On October of 2000, the federal government released an overdueindependent report on Kennewick Man. The report claimed that KennewickMan is Polynesian and not related to Indians or modern Caucasians. Thegovernment’s analysis was largely regarded as sloppy and politicallymotivated.
Spirit Cave Mummy
In 1940, archaeologists discovered a well-preserved naturallymummified corpse in Spirit Cave in Nevada. The remains were stored in asealed box at the Nevada State Museum until 1994, when radiocarbondating placed the remains at the same time period as Kennewick Man. TheSpirit Cave mummy looks like Kennewick Man and has all of the sameCaucasian features. While DNA tests of Kennewick man were unsuccessful,the Spirit Cave Mummy is a better candidate for viable DNA testing.However, a local Indian tribe has stepped in demanding control of theremains, and research on the mummy was ordered to halt before DNA testscould be done.
Along with the remains of the Spirit Cave Mummy were numerousartifacts demonstrating an advanced and non-Indian culture. Mostnotable were textiles using diamond-plaited matting, formerlyconsidered to be a much newer technology. Fork Rock Cave in Oregonyielded more physical evidence of a non-Indian culture. Intricatesagebrush saddles, tools, and textiles were found that are strikinglydifferent from any identified paleo-Indian culture.
Lovelock Cave Mummy
Lovelock cave is eighty miles from Reno and the sites were in 1911guano miners found numerous sets of remains naturally mummified underfour feet of guano. While advance testing was not available, theremains were carefully documented. The most striking trait to bediscovered was the red hair found on some of the remains. The remainsare also taller than Amerindians, and photographs of the skulls show aclose resemblance to Kennewick man.
Several modern Indian tribes have legends of pale skinned and/orred-haired peoples. In fact, the Paiutes, a tribe native to Nevada,have a legend about exterminating an enemy tribe of red-haired peoples.
Haplotype X
Asian DNA contains four different haplotypes, including A, B, C,& D. Indian remains have the same four, plus one extra. Thehaplotype X is found exclusively in European Caucasian populations aswell as some Indian DNA. Researchers claim that the introduction ofhaplotype X into the Indian gene pool occurred thousands of years agoand is not the result of interbreeding with any recent group such asthe Vikings.
A picture is emerging of an ancient Caucasian people who crossedinto North America only to be wiped out by successive waves ofMongoloid invasions.
Some DNA tests on Indian remains have found other genetic markers similar to Eastern Russians.
Conclusion
Politics, political correctness, and especially some groups’mythology should not be allowed to stop scientific research that isuncovering our ancient history.
Modern American Indians are far from being the sole possessors ofNorth America in ancient times. North America is the burial ground of adiverse range of racial, and sub-racial types. All the previouscultures and races were exterminated and/or absorbed by modern Indians.
The Indians are an anomaly for North America, because they weren’tcompletely wiped out. Their European conquerors had respect for themand allowed them to maintain their racial, ethnic, and culturalidentities and manage their own tribal affairs with semi-autonomywithin the United States and Canada.
If Europeans are to be held accountable for reducing the populationof Indians, perhaps the Indians should be held accountable for theextermination of Kennewick Man’s people, the Mound Builders, and others.
The focus of this article was on Kennewick Man and remainsspecifically related to Kennewick Man. I did not focus on any of theCaucasian cultures that crossed the Atlantic and came to America. Thisis another very exciting topic, largely ignored for political reasons.
” The easiest way of silencing someone is to call them aracist … Today we have politics that says,’Oh, my God. You shouldn’tsay those things about the past or you shouldn’t be able to researchthe remains of past people in the Americas for political reasons.’ Butwhat happens in future generations when that politics is gone and allthe skeletons that once told the stories of those people are also goneand back in the ground, destroyed by natural soil processes?” – Dr.James Chatters
” Kennewick Man is all about extinction. His people werebred out or wiped out by invaders, and those interlopers are givencredit for all his technology..his inventiveness…his hopes and dreams.Kennewick Man was a warning that it can happen to us, too. If you wantto honor him, work to ensure that European Americans, and Europeanpeople generally, do not follow him into oblivion. (If you do not thinkthat such a fate is possible, you haven’t been reading thedemographics.) ” – Stephen McNallen