Friday, Aug. 04, 2006

Asatru leader visits Kennewick museum (w/video)

By Anna King, Herald staff writer

The leader of a group that claimed Kennewick Man as an ancient European ancestor returned to Kennewick on Thursday for the first time since performing rituals over the skeleton nine years ago.

Stephen McNallen, founder of the Asatru Folk Assembly, visited the Tri-Cities as part of a vacation around the Northwest with his wife Sheila. The Nevada City, Calif., couple paid a brief visit to the East Benton County Historical Society Museum in Kennewick to look over its display on Kennewick Man.

He also recently submitted a statement to the museum to be used as part of the exhibit.

"I felt so grateful that someone let us tell our side of the story," McNallen said.

He and the Asatru became part of the Kennewick Man story after claiming him as an ancestor in late 1996, months after the remains were discovered along the Columbia River. The group entered a three-year court battle to have the skeleton studied because they believed it might be linked to ancient Europeans. The Asatru follow a pre-Christian European religion, with Viking gods such as Odin and Thor.

One of the most complete ancient skeletons ever found, Kennewick Man triggered a nine-year legal clash among scientists, the federal government and Native American tribes who also claimed Kennewick Man as their ancestor.

McNallen last visited Kennewick with his followers to perform Asatru rituals near the site where the ancient remains were found. The group calls Kennewick Man the "Far Traveling One."

McNallen is glad Kennewick Man finally is being studied.

He said he fought to study Kennewick Man because he thought an alternative spiritual perspective needed to be presented besides that of the Mid-Columbia Indian tribes, which want to rebury the bones.

The Asatru gave up their fight in 2000 because the lengthy legal battle was requiring too much time and money.

He and his wife said they are interested to see if future DNA testing would unravel the 9,000-year-old skeleton's ancestry.

"There are some good reasons to believe that Kennewick Man was an ancient European," said McNallen, who travels with a pewter amulet of Thor's hammer laced around his neck, a drinking horn and a bottle of mead. "I don't think that's been disproved."

The Asatru leader said there is strong evidence that early Europeans made their way to North America thousands of years before Columbus.

"Clovis points bear a striking resemblance to points found in France and Spain," he said.

He believes early Europeans may have crossed an ice bridge called the Atlantic Crescent between Europe and North America during the ice ages.

"There is enough evidence to consider this seriously," he said. "It's not a fringe phenomenon."