Cultural Affiliation Report, Chapter 4: Review of Linguistic Information

The Kennewick Man remains were found in shallow water along the edge of the Columbia River. It is believed that the remains eroded from the river bank at Columbia Park in what now is Kennewick, Washington, in July 1996. Preliminary C14 dating of the bone suggested the remains might be approximately 9,000 (C14) years old. At issue is the application of provisions of NAGPRA with regard to the repatriation of the remains to a coalition of tribes and bands (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation of the Yakama Reservation, Washington; Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho; and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian group) that claims them. In particular, I will address the issue whether or not those remains can be shown to be "culturally affiliated" with any contemporary Native American group, specifically with any or all of the intervenor groups. For present purposes, "Cultural affiliation means that there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be reasonably traced historically or prehistorically between members of a modern-day Indian tribe and an identifiable earlier group. Cultural affiliation is established when the preponderance of the evidence--based on geographical, kinship, biological, archeological, linguistic, folklore, oral tradition, historical evidence, or other information or expert opinion--reasonably leads to such a conclusion." (43 CFR 10.2(e)).