Tribes Pay Honor to the Ancient One

Kennewick, WA - Today, representatives from the Umatilla, Nez Perce, Yakama, Colville, and Wanapum Tribes gathered along the Columbia River near the discovery point where the Ancient One, also known as the Kennewick Man, was found twenty years ago to the date. 

"As we recognize to the Ancient One's discovery, we also mourn for him," said Armand Minthorn, Board of Trustee member for the Umatilla Tribes.  "He is our ancestor, and yet he lies in a museum rather than to rest with his people. It's been twenty years, and he is still being denied his right to a proper burial."

Since the discovery of the nearly nine thousand year old remains, the Tribes have worked diligently to follow the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) to repatriate the remains.  Yet, scientists refusing to accept the Ancient One's Native American ancestry pursued a lengthy legal battle costing taxpayers millions of dollars, thereby denying the Ancient One his right to a proper burial. 

In 2013, Dr. Eske Willerslev, Director of Centre of Excellence in GeoGenetics at the University of Copenhagen, led a team of scientists using new DNA techniques to determine the lineage of the Ancient One.  Dr. Willerslev and his team came to the determination that the Ancient One is most closely connected by DNA to the Native people of the Columbia Plateau.  However, the remains continue to be in limbo.

Now that the remains have been determined to be of Native American descent, the Army Corps of Engineers is following the NAGPRA process.  The U.S. Congress is also considering the Bring The Ancient One Home Act (HR 4131/S 1979) which would repatriate the remains directly to the five Tribes and finally allow the Ancient One to be laid to rest. 

""We need Congress to pass this legislation because twenty years of delay have demonstrated that there is no guarantee that the law will prevail," said Aaron Ashley, Board of Trustees and Cultural Committee member for the Umatilla Tribes.  "The Ancient One's Native American identity has been proven beyond a doubt it is time to expedite the return process so he can properly be laid to rest."