By Dorothy C. Wertz, PhD A skeleton found in 1996 on the banks of the Columbia River in eastern Washington is the subject of an ongoing court case. Kennewick Man, named for the town near which he was found, is about 9000 years old and does not look like contemporary Native Americans.
Some anthropologists also find South Asian or Polynesian features.
And, except for a three-inch spear point that became imbedded in his hip long before death, he appears to have been in good health. Under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act , all Native American remains found on government property must be offered to the affiliated tribes. Kennewick Man was found on land belonging to the US Army Corps of Engineers , which offered him to a coalition of five federated tribes represented by the Umatilla tribe. Despite his age and Caucasoid features, the Umatilla accepted him as an ancestor. According to their beliefs, they have always lived on the land and therefore must be descendants of Kennewick Man.