Corps’ Care Of Skeleton In Question Pagans Say Moist Leaves In Box A Danger To Kennewick Man

Questions are being raised about the Army Corps of Engineers’ care of the 9,300-year-old bones of Kennewick Man.

When members of a pagan sect tied to Norse gods held a religious ceremony over the bones last week, they found cedar leaves in the box, said Michael Clinton, attorney for the Asatru Folk Assembly.

The leaves contain moisture and chemicals that could alter or damage the fragile bones, Clinton said.

“Our desire is to protect the Kennewick Man,” Clinton said. “That’s why we’re alerting people.”

A small quantity of cedar was placed in the box during previous religious ceremonies by Indian tribes, said Dutch Meier, spokesman for the Army Corps in Walla Walla.

Meier said the cedar pieces will not damage the bones.

“The cedar materials are not in contact with the bones in any fashion whatsoever,” Meier said, because the bones are wrapped in plastic bags.

But the scientist who has made the most extensive study of the bones said the plastic bags would only be effective if they are sealed.

“If it’s just wrapped it won’t work,” said James Chatters of Richland. “The moisture will get in.”

Moisture could introduce bacteria or mildew to the ancient bones, and even alter their shape, Chatters said.

“Damp stuff of any kind is a problem,” Chatters said.

But he stressed that it was too early to conclude that moisture has been introduced to the bones, or that they have been damaged.

Still, it was troubling that the Army Corps would allow anything to be placed with the bones, Chatters said.

Robson Bonnichsen, an Oregon State University archaeologist who is suing for the right to study the bones, agreed that it was too soon to jump to conclusions.

“But this is bizarre stuff,” Bonnichsen said. “The corps seems to be making up the rules as they go along.”

Members of the Umatilla Tribe of Oregon, who are leading the effort to immediately rebury the bones, did not return a telephone message.

Clinton said the Asatru Folk Assembly plans to raise the issue of the care of the bones when a hearing is held in federal court in Portland, on Oct. 1. They believe there is “a clear and present danger to the bones,” Clinton said.

The bones, the oldest human remains ever found in the Northwest, were discovered last year along the shore of the Columbia River in Kennewick.

Chatters, a forensic anthropologist, examined the bones and noted Caucasoid features, including a long, narrow face, a slight overbite and a prominent Kirk Douglas-type chin.

He labeled the skeleton as an early white settler, until he found an ancient spear point in the hip. Subsequent carbon-dating determined the remains were actually 93 centuries old.

That raised the possibility that the earliest humans in the region may not have been related to the ancestors of modern Indian tribes.

That theory sparked a firestorm of controversy.

Area Indian tribes claimed the remains and demanded that they be reburied with no additional study.

The Army Corps, which manages the land where the skeleton was found, confiscated the bones and has them stored at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.

A group of eight prominent scientists sued in federal court for permission to continue studying the remains. The case is pending.

Into the middle of this strode the Asatru Folk Assembly, based in Nevada City, Calif. Members follow pre-Christian European religions in worshiping deities such as Thor.

They contend Kennewick Man may be one of their ancestors, and have filed a separate lawsuit demanding further scientific studies.

After learning that the corps allowed Indian tribes to hold several religious ceremonies, the Asatrus demanded equal rights. They held a ceremony with the bones last Wednesday.

Clinton said the first thing they noticed when they entered the conference room was that the remains were kept in a shabby cardboard box sealed with tape.

Then they noticed the cedar scattered among the bones, Clinton said.

Meier said Kennewick Man’s remains are held in a wooden box.

Clinton believes the Army Corps is biased in favor of returning the bones to the Indians, and cannot be trusted to protect the scientific integrity of the remains.

He is also upset that the Asatrus were told they could not put anything in the box. “It seems we are not on an equal playing field with the Indians,” Clinton said.