For the tribes, this was not merely a legal defeat.

It was a statement, delivered by the federal court system, that their connection to their ancient dead could be severed by a sufficiently old radiocarbon date.

That their oral traditions and their unbroken presence in their homeland were, in the eyes of American law, insufficient to establish ancestral claims.

Armand Minthorn of the Umatilla would later speak about what this period felt like, sitting in courtrooms and hearing the federal government argue that his people had not adequately proved they were related to someone who had been buried in their homeland for eighty-four centuries: “We know who our ancestors are.

We don’t need their science to tell us.”

And in the end, he would be right in a way he could not have fully anticipated.

Because the science was about to change everything again.

SECTION 9: THE SCIENTIFIC STUDIES BEGIN — AND THE PICTURE GETS MORE COMPLICATED

With the legal battle finally resolved in their favor, the scientific team led by Douglas Owsley of the Smithsonian was finally able to conduct comprehensive studies of the remains.

Between 2005 and 2012, teams of scientists examined the Kennewick bones from every possible angle.