Mystery of the First Americans

Imagine being dead for 9,300 years, and then resurrected into a storm of controversy. Such is the case of the skeleton of an ancient man found near Kennewick, Washington in 1996. One of the oldest and most complete ancient skeletons ever found in North America, Kennewick Man's skull shape (long and narrow, receding cheekbones, projecting nose, and a high cleft chin) makes him more like modern Caucasians than modern Native Americans. In addition, Kennewick Man 1) predates the ending of the last Ice Age, when archeologists used to believe that North America was settled, and 2) resembles another equally ancient skeleton, the Spirit Cave Man of Nevada. Could North America have been settled by Caucasian-looking people from Asia before the immigrants from Siberia (the genetic ancestors of today's Native Americans)? This line of questioning is turning long-held ethnologic, cultural and historical notions upside down, and--as if that didn't cause enough furor--the skeleton was discovered on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, which means the remains must be reburied under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. When this NOVA episode aired in February, Kennewick Man's fate was still unsettled. Now it has been decided that the remains will be turned over to one of the five modern tribes claiming them, and DNA testing (which may be futile with such ancient bones) is underway to determine who gets to rebury Kennewick Man. An outstanding look at what happens when politics and sentiment are arrayed against science, this superb documentary is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: I, J, H, C, P. (R. Reagan)