Five Pacific Northwest tribes will continue efforts to repatriate Kennewick Man.

The tribes claim the 9,500-year-old remains as an ancestor. But scientists went to court and were able to block his reburial.

“We know he will come home to us someday. We never give up,” Rex Buck, a spiritual leader of the Wanapum Band, told The Seattle Times.

Scientists have been studying the remains ever since winning the appeals court decision in 2004. The lead researcher, however, has yet to publish his work although a book is promised soon.

Kennewick Man was discovered on federal land that was once a part of the Umatilla Reservation. Instead of returning him to the tribes, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the remains were too old to be covered by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

The tribes hope to amend NAGPRA to ensure that all ancestral remains can be repatriated regardless of their age.

Get the Story:
Kennewick Man a debate not easily put to rest (The Seattle Times 7/28)