The tug-of-war that is currently underway over Kennewick man is unfortunate, and I don't think it will be resolved any time soon. It is a complex issue, and both sides have good arguments. The American Indians have certainly been abused in the past, especially by scientists who have not respected the burial grounds of American Indian ancestors. But how do we determine if Kennewick man is one of their ancestors without proper study?

The tribes have argued that studying the remains would be desecrating those remains, and I would tend to agree. The evidence, however, tends to show that Kennewick man was likely not an ancestor of modern American Indians; he was more likely of Caucasian descent. If that is true then he raises all kinds of questions about the migration of humans to the Americas. In that case, it would seem that he should be studied.

In this case, it seems like the scientists have more of a claim to Kennewick man than the tribes, but that cannot be said unequivocally. As such, the debate remains open. I think that some reasonable compromise should be able to be reached, where the remains can be buried undesecrated and the scientists can gather data. It seems likely that a compromise will not, in fact, be reached, but that this trial is about more then these particular remains. Whatever the out come is, we should tread lightly.