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I. INTRODUCTION
In July 1996, two young men stumbled upon a skull along the Columbia River near the town of Kennewick in Southern Washington.1 They called the police, the police called the coroner, and the coroner called Dr. James Chatters, a local archaeologist.2 Initially, Dr. Chatters believed the skull probably belonged to an early European settler.3 The skull was accompanied by virtually the entire skeleton.4 Dr. Chatters noticed something was embedded in the skeleton's pelvis.5 After X-ray and CT scans, it appeared that the object was a stone projectile spear point, resembling a Cascade Point.6 Chatters was confused; he could not understand how he could have a white European settler with a stone projectile point of that antiquity embedded in his pelvis.7 The initial impression of the physical features of the skeleton indicated that this man had possibly been the first Western settler of the area, the stone point, however, indicated that this man was 5000 to 9000 years old.8 Chatters decided to obtain a radiocarbon date for the skeleton, the best way to determine its age.9
The radiocarbon date was a complete shock.10 Kennewick Man, so named because of the location in which his remains were found, was approximately 9500 years old.11 This was no European settler; this was possibly the most significant find in the history of the Western Hemisphere-a find that could contribute significantly to the study of the peopling of the Americas.12 Dr. Chatters and some of his colleagues excitedly made plans to send the skeleton to Washington, D.C., where it could be exhaustively studied at the Smithsonian Institution.13 However, before that could happen, citing their authority under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA),14 a coalition of five Native American groups (the coalition)15 claimed the skeletal remains and demanded that they be returned to them for a burial of their choosing.16
In October 1996, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) stepped in, cited NAGPRA, claimed the skeleton, and by filing notice of intent to repatriate, announced its plans to repatriate the skeleton to the coalition.17 Chatters and the scientific community, hoping for a chance to study Kennewick Man, discussed the disposition of the skeleton with the Corps.18 The Corps, however, was firm in its...