Water Resources Development Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to offer this bipartisan amendment that is based on the text of H.R. 4131, the Bring the Ancient One Home Act of 2015, which was bipartisan legislation introduced by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck), my friend and colleague. I was very proud to cosponsor this bill, and I am honored to lead this amendment with my Pacific Northwest colleagues: Representatives Heck, Kilmer, and Walden. I appreciate their commitment to this important issue.

Mr. Chairman, 20 years ago the skeletal remains of a human being determined to be roughly 9,000 years old were found on Federal land near the Columbia River in my central Washington district. These remains are often referred to as the Kennewick Man, but the tribes prefer the more respectful name of The Ancient One, which is how I will refer to him.

Because The Ancient One was found on lands managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the nearly fully intact skeleton was turned over to the Corps.

The tribes involved--the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla and the Wanapum Band of Priest Rapids--have, for two decades, worked to repatriate the Ancient One and return him for proper burial that would follow practices used by these Columbia Basin tribes for thousands of years; or, as they say, for time immemorial. The tribes believe that the spirit of the Ancient One cannot rest until he is reburied, and I think it is important that we respect that belief.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, was enacted into law in 1990 to address the treatment of Native American cultural items, including human remains, with the goal of returning these items to tribes. In other words, NAGPRA was enacted to facilitate the return of skeletal remains such as the Ancient One.

In January of 2000, both the Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department determined the Ancient One was indeed of Indian descent and should be returned for proper burial. In June of 2015, University of Copenhagen geneticists released findings that clearly tied the DNA of the Ancient One to modern Native Americans, and a subsequent study by the University of Chicago reached similar conclusions.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would simply return the Ancient One back to the Columbia Basin tribes, who are in total agreement that he should be reburied. I urge my colleagues to support the enactment of this commonsense amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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