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Court should let scientists see Kennewick Man first
Wednesday, September 27, 2000
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Now that the Interior Department has decided that Kennewick Man should be returned to five modern American Indian tribes for re-burial, it's time for the court to take up this matter once more.
A lawsuit by a group of scientists seeking permission to study the remains has been stayed pending outcome of the agency's investigation. That suit should now proceed because Monday's decision sets a bad scientific precedent.
The plaintiffs want to ascertain whether Kennewick Man might be of a different racial origin than modern tribes. The scientists should be allowed to answer that before Kennewick Man goes to his rest.
Scientists hired by the department to ascertain the cultural affiliation of the remains were not able to obtain DNA from the 9,000-year-old skeleton, the department said.
So Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt instructed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has legal custody of the remains, to turn them over to the tribes. He said he was persuaded by geographic data and oral histories of the tribes but admitted that there are "ambiguities" in the evidence that "made this a close call."
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