If Kennewick Man’s bones could talk...

Found on federal lands, on the banks of the Columbia River in Eastern Washington in 1996, the human remains known as "Kennewick Man," or by Northwest Indian tribes as "The Ancient One," are an ongoing source of legal and cultural battle between those who wished to study the remains and those who wished them reburied.

The Burke Museum serves as a court-ordered repository for the Kennewick Man remains, radiocarbon dated as more than 9,000 years old. Lape, associate director for research and curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum, and associate professor in the University of Washington's Department of Anthropology, will review the history of the controversy and comment on recent developments, including the release of scientific data on Kennewick Man's possible origins, life and internment.

Lape's research focuses on understanding social change in Southeast Asia during the last 5,000 years. He is particularly interested in island landscapes and seascapes, cross-cultural interactions such as trade and warfare, human-environment interactions and climate change. He also has an interest in archaeology practice, cultural resource management and public archaeology in the Seattle area.

More information about Kennewick Man is available on the Burke Museum website.

The Hutchinson Center's Research Ethics Education Program and Diversity Council are sponsors of the talk. All at Fred Hutch and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance are welcome. Postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and faculty who attend the lecture will receive credit from the research ethics education program.

For more information, contact Lee Strucker, lstrucke@fhcrc.org, (206) 667-1247.