The results of studies on the remains of Kennewick Man haven't been made public despite the high-profile battle over the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Only the scientists who were part of a lawsuit have been allowed to handle the 9,000-year-old remains. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has denied access to other researchers and hasn't informed the tribes who claimed Kennewick Man as an ancestor about the studies.

An anthropologist from the Smithsonian Institute, a federal entity, is leading the studies. A spokesperson wasn't sure when results will be made public.

The Army Corps planned to repatriate the remains to the tribes but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that NAGPRA did not apply to remains that could not be linked to present-day Native Americans.

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Kennewick Man's secrets still mostly secret (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 7/14)