National

Magistrate revives Kennewick Man lawsuit
Judge questions government's definition of Native American, sets oral arguments for June

Aviva L. Brandt
Associated Press

PORTLAND -- After being on hold for four years, a lawsuit over a 9,300-year-old skeleton has been reactivated, setting in motion a case that could redefine what constitutes a "Native American."

During a status conference Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate John Jelderks asked whether the Justice Department maintains that any human remains or artifacts that pre-date Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492 are by definition Native American.

Under that theory, for instance, any Viking remains from their five or more voyages to North America around the year 1000 would be considered Native American and given to modern-day tribes for reburial.

After the government lawyers confirmed their definition, Jelderks told lawyers for five tribes who claim the ancient remains known as Kennewick Man as their ancestor to consider whether they agree with the government's definition because it "might have implications beyond this case."

Kennewick Man is one of the oldest skeletons found in North America, discovered in the shallows of the Columbia River in 1996 in Kennewick.

The skeleton's skull has features that are dissimilar to those of modern American Indians. Anthropologists who studied the bones for the Interior Department have said Kennewick Man appeared to have the strongest connection to populations from Polynesia and southern Asia.

The discovery of Kennewick Man could support newer theories that the continent's earliest arrivals came not by a land bridge between Russia and Alaska -- a long-held theory -- but by boat or some other route.

Eight anthropologists, who sued for the right to study the remains, say they hope further study could help unmask the ethnic identities of the first humans on this continent, where they came from, and what their cultures were like.

But the Umatilla, the Yakama, the Colvilles, the Wanapum and the Nez Perce say that testing already done on Kennewick Man for the government is enough and they want to rebury him.

Last month, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt determined the remains were "culturally affiliated" with the five tribes because the bones were found near the tribes' aboriginal lands. Babbitt said he based his decision on geographic data and the tribes' oral histories.

But Jelderks has previously criticized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for using the same rationale for its 1996 decision -- contested by the anthropologists who filed the lawsuit -- to hand Kennewick Man over to the tribes. At the time, Jelderks called the agency's decision-making procedure flawed and ordered the corps to reconsider.

On Wednesday, Jelderks reactivated the case, which had been on hold while the Interior Department looked into the tribes' claims. Jelderks set oral arguments in the case for June 19, with a series of dates before then when parties will file their written arguments.

The first deadline is Dec. 1, when the Justice Department must file its administrative record supporting the Interior Department's decisions in the case. Aimee Bevan of the Justice Department told Jelderks the paperwork, which is not yet fully assembled, stands 20 feet tall.

The Corps of Engineers is responsible for the skeletal remains, which are located at the Burke Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Seattle.

Michael Trimble, the corps' chief curator for Kennewick Man, disputed claims by the anthropologists that the bones are undergoing fluctuations in temperature and spikes in humidity, which could damage them.

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