A team of Danish scientists reported in the journal Nature today that a year-long genome-sequencing effort has established that 9,400-year-old Kennewick Man, a set of bones found on the banks of the Columbia River, is closely related to modern-day members of the Colville tribe. The lab, which specializes in testing ancient DNA samples, used a tiny DNA sample extracted from a finger bone.
Since the discovery in 1996, the Colvilles have considered Kennewick Man an ancestor, and want to bury his remains. Scientists want access for research and study. The tribe lost a lawsuit under the Native Graves Restoration and Repatriation Act when a federal judge ruled the bones couldn’t be linked to any modern tribe using technology available at the time.
Some scientists speculated that Kennewick Man might have been a Polynesian or Ainu, an ancient Japanese ethnicity, but the Danish tests rule out any such connection. His ancestral line tracks that of modern Colvilles until about 600 or 700 years ago, when the lines may have diverged, so he’s not necessarily a direct ancestor of today’s Colvilles. But he’s clearly a Native American.
It’s unclear what will happen to the bones now.
Yes but .. he was passing for white.