"Kennewick Man" is a 9,000-year-old Patrick Stewart look-alike.

Science wins ancient bones battle:

A US appeals court has given permission to scientists to study a 9,000-year-old skeleton - despite the objections of some Native American tribes.

The bones were found by two teenagers near Kennewick, Washington, in 1996. Native Americans want to bury what they call the remains of a distant relative, but scientists say the unusual features of the skeleton need further study. [...]

"It's a terrific decision, it's seven-and-a-half years coming. Of course we've got to wait and see whether the government is going to appeal it," Professor Robson Bonnichsen, one of the scientists who fought the case, told BBC News Online. [...]

Department of the Interior scientists say "Kennewick Man" is unlike any known modern Native Americans, although they do not rule out a distant biological connection.

This kind of shit really annoys me.

Hey, I've got an idea! Let's take this scientific treasure, and instead of using it to learn more about the origin of our whole species, let's give it to some dumbass and let him dump it in a hole in the ground. Dear Umatilla, Yakama, Colville and Nez Perce tribes: I'm really very sorry that someone I'm not even related to gave your great-great-great-grandfather smallpox, but fuck you: get over it already.