Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of Kennewick Man

Since its discovery along a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washing- ton, the ancient skeleton called Kennewick Man has ignited a raging political controversy that dwarfs the scientific controversy about its age and importance. Seattle reporter Roger Downey chronicles the epic, beginning with the discovery of the skeleton in 1996, the media feeding frenzy that followed, and the legal circus involving some of America’s leading Paleo-Indian archaeologists. Kennewick Man’s is a complex story—partly about science, partly about law, partly about publicity, but mainly about power. It is a metaphor for the tragic struggle between Native Americans and archaeologists that was set off by a poorly crafted statute passed by Congress in 1990—the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The fate of this 9,000-year-old skeleton seems to rest on the determination of its race. If it is Native American, it will be turned over to a local tribe and reburied. If the remains are of a non-native race, it will be made available for intensive study. In Riddle of the Bones, Downey tells the story without frills or emotion, bearing the facts of the case and exposing the personalities that color it so vividly. The outcome of the case will most surely shape the future of American archaeology.