A reconstruction of the skull of Kennewick Man by a scientist who doesn't believe the remains are Native American. Photo from Wikipedia

Initial DNA tests of the Kennewick Man indicate he was Native American, The Seattle Times reports.

Genetic studies on the 9,500-year-old remains are still underway in Denmark. But an email uncovered by the paper through a Freedom of Information Act request shows where the results appear to be headed.

“At present there is no indication he has a different origin than North American Native American," a researcher said in an April 30 email to the the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Kennewick Man was discovered on federal land in Washington that was once a part of the Umatilla Reservation. The Army Corps was prepared to repatriate him to tribes in the Pacific Northwest but a group of scientists sued and were able to conduct studies after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004 determined that the remains were too old to be covered by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

But even before the studies were published, one of the scientists claimed that Kennewick Man was not Native American. Douglas Owsley, an anthropologist at the federally-funded National Museum of Natural History, continues to assert some type of non-Native origin of the controversial remains.

“His origins are going to go back to coastal Asia," Owsley told The Seattle Times. However, the told the paper that it's possible that Kennewick Man and Native Americans share "distant" ancestry.

DNA tests on other individuals of similar age to the Kennewick Man indicate otherwise. A 12,600-year-old baby boy found in Montana showed direct links to present-day Native Americans as did a 12,000-year-old girl who was found in Mexico.

Get the Story:
First DNA tests say Kennewick Man was Native American (The Seattle Times 1/18)

Related Stories:
Scientists publish lengthy book based on study of Kennewick Man (08/25)
Remains of 12,600-year-old Native toddler reburied in Montana (06/30)
DNA of girl found in Mexico linked to present-day Native people (05/15)
Pacific Northwest tribes still planning to rebury Kennewick Man (07/29)
Anthropologist from Kennewick Man case turns to cannibalism (05/02)
Crosscut: Kennewick Man returns from dead 9200 years later (10/11)
Anthropologist says Kennewick Man was not Native American (10/10)