The Kennewick Man Trials and Tribulations
On July 28, 1996 a human skull was found along the banks of the Columbia River at Kennewick, Washington (runestone.org/kmfact 2002, 1). This skull would lead to the discovery of a complete skeleton with characteristics of a Caucasian male. The significance of this discovery is that it's dated to between 9,300 and 9,600 years ago, making it one of the earliest skeletons found in the United States and the second oldest found in Washington (runestone.org/kmfact 2002, 1). With this great archeological find controversy was soon to follow. The skeleton was found on a portion of the Colombian River maintained by the United Sates Marine Corps of Engineers, but also part of the traditional home of the Umatilla tribe. …