Longtime leader of Native American Wanapum band dead at 66

KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) — The longtime leader of the Wanapum band of Native Americans has died.

Rex Buck Jr., 66, died Feb. 11 at his ancestral village of P’na at Priest Rapids on the Columbia River in Grant County, Washington, according to an obituary distributed by the Grant County Public Utility District on Monday. No cause of death was listed.

The Tri-City Herald reported that the Wanapum band lived at what is now the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site until the land was seized during World War II and the Wanapum were forced to resettle at their winter campsite in Priest Rapids.

“Rex was thoughtful and sincere, a leader who took his responsibility to the land seriously, consistently ensuring that the department understood the perspectives and priorities of the Wanapum people,” said Brian Vance, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford manager.

Buck was given the responsibility of leading the Wanapum people while still in his 20s, according to the obituary. He was relentless in his support of Wanapum culture, the obituary said.

He worked, with his wife, Angela, to build the Wanapum Heritage Center in 2015 on Highway 243. The museum tells the story of the Wanapum people and is also a place where the Wanapum can pass on their language and traditional lifestyle to new generations, according to his obituary.

Last month, the Burke Museum of the University of Washington in Seattle named Buck an archaeology curatorial associate to honor his decades of contributions to the museum and his work to repatriate the remains of Native Americans, including the skeleton known as Kennewick Man.

The approximately 9,000-year-old bones of Kennewick Man were found on the banks of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, in 1996.

One of the most complete ancient skeletons ever found, the...