Army Corps: Kennewick Man was Native American

DNA analysis from the ancient remains of the Kennewick Man prove that he was related to modern Native Americans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday.

The decision was made following a careful review of a 2015 DNA analysis which found that the remains were Native American, the Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement.

For almost twenty years, local tribes have battled scientists and the federal government over the right to bury the skeletal remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which requires Native American remains to be turned over to tribes that want to bury them.

“Because the finding is that Kennewick Man is Native American, the remains are now subject to the processes and procedures outlined in Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,” the Corp said in a statement.

The remains were found in 1996 in a river in Kennewick, Wash., and quickly ignited a debate between local tribes and scientists who argued the remains should be studied. The skeleton is one of the most complete ever found in North America and is currently at the Burke Museum in Seattle, until the Corp is able to determine which Native American Tribe has "priority custody" of the skeleton, according to the statement.

That may happen sooner than expected, in part because the five tribes claiming Kennewick Man as a relative say they will work together to rebury the remains, the Seattle Times reported on Thursday.

The individual tribes would have been burdened with proving “cultural affiliation" to Kennewick man, which would have resulted in a lengthy process.

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