This should matter to how we approach Indigenous historical claims in the future.

It doesn’t mean that every Indigenous claim should be accepted without investigation.

It means that Indigenous oral traditions deserve to be treated as evidence — as a starting point for investigation rather than a claim to be dismissed until Western methods confirm it.

The methodological shift required here is not large.

It is simply the extension to Indigenous knowledge systems of the basic epistemic respect that historians give to other forms of historical record — the assumption that the evidence deserves to be taken seriously, that it may well be pointing toward truth, and that the burden of proof runs in both directions.

The Kennewick case showed, in the most concrete possible way, that this epistemic respect was warranted.

EXTENDED SECTION: THE HIDDEN COST — WHAT THE LEGAL BATTLE TOOK FROM TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

The nineteen years between Kennewick Man’s discovery and his final repatriation — from August 1996 to February 2017 — represented a sustained ordeal for the tribal communities involved that is difficult to fully convey in the terms of legal or scientific history.

Legal battles of this complexity are expensive.

They require attorneys who specialize in federal Indian law, a narrow and complex field that demands years of specialized training.