For once, the law is on their side. Artist's conception of the Kennewick Man. Courtesy The Burke Museum Mr. Owsley, then, may be right after all. But perhaps not quite in the way he intended. Our route to the ancient history of the continent is troubled by the history of the last five hundred years.
Past relationships haunt the current dispute.
Sometime this fall, Magistrate Jelderks will decide how best to dispose of the ancient remains. When the case is closed, Kennewick Man likely will have taught us nearly as much about who we are as a people as about who the people were who dwelled on the banks of the Columbia River nine thousand years ago. A Note about Kennewick Man on and off the Web Kennewick Man emerged from the mud of the Columbia River in 1996, only to be caught in the strands of the World Wide Web. Consider that the search engine Google lists some 11,100 sites for Kennewick Man and another ninety-three for those inclined to call him Kenniwick Man. The Burke Museum touts its celebrated skeleton on its home page.