A view of the cave where the girl was found in Mexico. Photo from Hoyo Negro

The Smithsonian scientist who told tribal leaders that the Kennewick Man was not related to them doesn't appear to be swayed by new research on another ancient set of remains.

Douglas Owsley expressed caution about a study that showed genetic links between a 12,000-year-old girl who and present-day Native Americans. He declined to comment to The Seattle Times and told The Washington Post that he needed to see more evidence.

Owsley has reason to keep quiet -- the team that studied the Kennewick Man is publishing a manuscript this fall, the Times noted. His studies have not been able to make any conclusive findings regarding the ancestry of the 9,400-year-old man.

Tribes in the Pacific Northwest always claimed Kennewick Man as an ancestor. But the federal courts barred his reburial under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act due to the purported lack of connection to modern-day Native people.

Kennewick Man was found on land that was ceded through treaty by the Umatilla Tribes of Oregon.

Get the Story:
Ancient girl’s skeleton changes scientist’s mind on human migration (The Seattle Times 5/16)
Girl’s 12,000-year-old skeleton may solve a mystery (The Washington Post 5/16)
Prehistoric Skeleton in Mexico Is Said to Link Modern Native Americans to Siberians (The New York Post 5/16)
Will a girl’s 12,000-year-old skeleton help solve a mystery? (The Albuquerque Journal 5/16)
Most Complete Ice Age Skeleton Helps Solve Mystery of First Americans (National Geographic 5/15)
Oldest most complete, genetically intact human skeleton in New World (Science Daily 5/15)

Get the Study:
Late Pleistocene Human Skeleton and mtDNA Link Paleoamericans and Modern Native Americans (Science May 16, 2014)

Related Stories:
DNA of girl found in Mexico linked to present-day Native people (5/15)