Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006

Yakamas seek peace over Kennewick Man (w/video)

By Anna King, Herald staff writer

SEATTLE -- Glen Howard Pinkham lingered in the hallway, hoping to declare peace with a handshake.

The Yakama Tribal Council member said he wanted to meet Doug Owsley of the Smithsonian, who is the lead scientist studying the Kennewick Man skeleton.

Pinkham was waiting Thursday night in the hallway of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center just outside where Owsley had announced the study findings during the American Academy of Forensic Scientists annual meeting.

"I would like to have a different relationship," Pinkham explained.

Pinkham never got the chance to meet Owsley, but said he still hopes some of the scientists might visit his reservation near Toppenish soon.

Pinkham and other Mid-Columbia tribal members believe the 9,000-year-old bones are those of their ancestor, and for nearly 10 years they fought for the right to rebury the skeleton and prevent it from being studied.

The scientists finally won the legal fight on the finding that Kennewick Man's skeleton can't be proved to be Native American just because it is ancient.

Still, Kennewick Man's remains are sacred to the tribes, and no amount of scientific study will convince them the ancient American is not family.

Pinkham and about six others traveled to Seattle when they heard the scientists would present their findings on the skeleton. They came to the speech wearing brightly colored vests and beaded jewelry.

Pinkham said the long battle over the bones should serve as a learning experience that the tribes and scientists can respect each other's values. The tribes would have liked to be invited to the presentation and wanted to be part of the study, he said.

Others from the Yakama Nation were not so diplomatic. They found the presentation -- including a slide show of the bones and gravesite -- disturbing and insensitive.

Larena Sohappy, Yakama Culture Committee chairwoman, and Stella Washines, a tribal councilwoman, said the presentation made them uncomfortable because it was held at 9 p.m.

"We don't do a thing with remains late at night," Washines explained. "If you were to handle them, move them or dress them, the earlier the better."

Northwest tribes often hold funerals in their longhouses that can last for days. And they believe a person must remain whole to meet his or her creator.

Sohappy said she hopes the bones will be returned to the tribes after they are studied, but that's unlikely.

The scientists said they plan to study the bones again sometime this year to seek answers to more questions about the skeleton.

Washines said one of the problems between the scientists and Native Americans is their cultural belief about time. "It doesn't matter if it's nine years or 9,000 years," she said.

She said her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents wanted to be buried in unmarked graves so they would not be disturbed. The people and their grave locations are passed on through oral tradition, she said.

Sohappy said she doesn't want to have a marked grave either, but added, "I wonder how they will keep us safe when we expire."

Kennewick Man's remains are housed at the University of Washington's Burke Museum.