Scientists and five tribes fought for 20 years over a skeleton about 9,000 years old, a court gave it to the scientists, and Congress gave it to the tribes

In July 1996 two men found a skeleton on the bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. Radiocarbon dating put it at 8,340 to 9,200 years old, with a stone projectile point lodged in the hip. The Army Corps of Engineers, which controlled the land, planned to give the remains to the Yakama, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Colville tribes and others under NAGPRA, which returns Native American remains to related tribes. Eight anthropologists led by Robson Bonnichsen sued to study the skeleton. The district court ruled for them in 2002. On 4 February 2004 the Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that "Kennewick Man's remains are not Native American human remains within the meaning of NAGPRA" because the record did not show a significant relationship to any present-day tribe. The scientists studied the bones. In June 2015 a genome study reported that the man's DNA falls within the diversity of living Native Americans^†. On 16 December 2016 Congress passed a law ordering the Corps, "notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law, including" NAGPRA, to transfer the remains within 90 days for repatriation to five named claimant tribes and burial in Washington. More than 200 tribal members reburied the Ancient One in February 2017 at an undisclosed site^†.