In China, the Han have dominated over the Uighur Muslim group for a very long time, epescially in the region of Xinjiang. Almost nine million Uighurs live in this region, but most Han claim that they were the first there and they claim the territory as their own. The Han claim that when a former leader of theirs had an expedition to the region that they settled down in Xinjiang and were the first people there so that the land belongs to them. A local history museum begs to differ. The museum has much history of the Han, but the second floor of the museum displays mummies of the original settlers, the beautiful Loulan. The Loulan's body is very well preserved, but appears to be from several centuries before the Han expedition. Chinese records show that the Uighurs did not arrive until much later, but the Han also doesn't want to admit that they have done the Uighurs wrong and the Han should not rightfully have control over the region of Xinjiang. Officials have taken the suppression of the Uighrs far enough that they will not even allow foreign scientists to complete DNA testing on the mummies to prove or disprove whether the mummies are Uighur or a different group. Some scientists have been able to sneak tissue samples for testing, proving that atleast two of the mummies have a European ancestry. China has began to allow Chinese scientists to do DNA testing on the mummies and their claim is that they believe the DNA is from Eastern Chinese migrants, but they agree that more testing is needed. Most believe that the bodies are from European migrants and some appear to be from Iran.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/asia/19mummy.html?em
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