Kennewick Man, a 9,300-year-old human skeleton, has arrived at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he will undergo a battery of scientific tests to ascertain his origin.

As reported earlier in Tourism News, K Man was dug up two years ago on the banks of the Columbia River near Richland, WA. Since then, Native American tribes have been trying to re-bury the bones -- some say in an attempt to hide their non-Native American origin. Forensic anthropologists have noted that Kennewick Man displays physical characteristics more akin to Caucasians than American Indians.

During K Man's journey to Seattle a local U.S. Magistrate allowed religious rites to be performed both by Indians and representatives of the Asatru Folk Assembly, a pagan group that worships Old Norse gods and goddesses. Reports from the scene describe the Indians as gloomy, while the Pagans appeared very cheerful.

[11/03/1998]