Kennewick Man on Trial

The “Kennewick Man on Trial” lecture series will explore many of the intriguing and hotly debated questions raised since the ancient human remains known as Kennewick Man were discovered along the banks of the Columbia River in 1996.

The series, Friday, Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23 in 130 Kane Hall, is presented by the Burke Museum, where the remains are housed.

The lectures explore issues ranging from archaeological evidence of the early settlement of the Americas through today’s confusing issues of race and ethnicity. In conjunction with the series will be a museum exhibit opening Friday, Oct. 15, and a Web site, http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/kman/home.htm. (Kennewick Man remains will not be displayed.)

This illustration depicts Kennewick Man 8,400 years ago. He was about 5 feet 9 inches tall and had a robust muscular build. At the time of his death, he was between 30 and 50 years old and had survived a projectile point wound in his right hip that probably made walking difficult. In the 1960s and 1970s, other human remains dating to 10,000 years ago were found just north of Kennewick, along with knives, spear blades, drills, spear-thrower parts and other tools, as well as shell jewelry. The area of Eastern Washington where Kennewick Man lived was cooler and wetter 8,400 years ago than it is today, and the land was covered with grasslands and scattered pine forests. Ancient large bison, elk, deer, fish, freshwater shellfish and plants provided important sources of food. Illustration by Joyce Bergen.

The series opens Friday with a reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the museum (separate tickets required) followed at 7:30 p.m. by “Discovery & Controversy” with Timothy McKeown of the National Park Service, and Adeline Fredin of Colville Confederated Tribes. The two scholars with very different backgrounds will provide a chronology of what has occurred and a context for understanding the issues and viewpoints involved.

The Saturday lectures include “Bones, Genes and the Construction of Race” at 10:30 a.m. with Joseph Powell and Anne Stone, University of New Mexico. They will discuss how contemporary research is opening new avenues for studying the way human populations are related and even challenging the concept of race. In “Peopling the Americas” at 1:30 p.m., David Meltzer, Southern Methodist University, will raise questions about the origin and antiquity of the first Americans, which are among the most disputed topics in archaeology. “Native American Claims to the Past” with Rebecca A. Tsosie, Arizona State University at 3:30 p.m., will focus on the legal framework underlying the political and moral issues raised by the case, the conflict between scientific and cultural claims, and the political significance of indigenous people’s cultural claims in domestic and international areas. The series will conclude with a panel discussion, “Judging What Remains,” at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the five-part series are $25 for Burke members, seniors and students, and $30 general admission. Individual lectures are $7 for members, seniors and students and $8 general admission. Tickets are available by phone (206-616-3962) fax (206-616-1274), mail or walk-in. Prices for the Friday reception are $10 for members, $15 general admission. Preregistration required by Oct. 15 for this limited-capacity event. ¶