Transcript Slide 1

Kennewick Man: Science vs.
Sacred Rights
(Why Should we Care?)
• A recent flood washed your grandmother's
casket into a riverbed. Since her remains have
been disturbed anyway, local scientists want to
study them. Should they be allowed to? Why or
why not?
• What about your great-grandmother? What
about your great-great-grandmother? What
about your great-great-great-grandmother?
(etc.)
• What if studying her remains could benefit
mankind?
Who is Kennewick Man?
• Kennewick Man’s remains were found
by some college students in 1996
• Since the remains were found in a
watershed, they fell under the control of
the Army Corps of Engineers.
• A preliminary examination suggested
caucasoid features initially labeling the
remains as those belonging to a white
settler
• The clovis point in his hip and
subsequent dating put the remains at
approximately 9,000 years old
• Because the remains were found in
ancestral tribal land, the Umatilla
claimed the remains under NAGPRA
• Scientists filed a law suit, requesting
that the remains not be given to the
Umatilla tribe, so science could study
them.
Caucasian Skull
Asian Skull
Kennewick Man Skull
•How is Kennewick Man’s skull similar to the Caucasian skull?
•How does Kennewick Man’s skull differ from the Asian skull?
Kennewick Man isn’t Asian nor Native American…
Asian Male Skull
Native American Skull
Kennewick Man Skull
Then, how did he get here???
This is the current model of
human migration
The letters correspond to where people from
each group came from and went to. The
colors represent thousands of years before
present. The dotted lines represent
presumed migrations, as the routes are now
underwater.
How do we know ethnicities?
Mitochondrial DNA: DNA from part of a cell that is used to study differences
over extended periods of time
How do we know dates?
• Carbon dating:
– Carbon 14 is present
in all organic material
and is absorbed
(eaten) by all living
creatures
– Carbon 14 decays into
Nitrogen 14
– The ratio of Carbon 14
to Nitrogen 14
determines how long
ago something
stopped ingesting
carbon, how long ago
something died
Artifacts can also point to cultural
relationships:
These are Clovis
Points (named for
Clovis, NM). They
represent a specific
stone age technology
and specific
indigenous cultures
during a specific time,
13,000-9,000 years
ago. A clovis point was
found in Kennewick
Man’s hip
SCIENCE and THE FIRST AMERICANS
Archeologists’ Point of View-Studying the Past is Essential:
We all share the
past -- no one
owns it.
Science should
be conducted to
uncover the truth
for all people for
all time.
www.friendsofpast.org
WHY Should We Care?
Archeology is especially important and useful in helping us to understand people
and events about which little or nothing has been written
The past will be lost unless we defend our right to learn about the heritage of all
Americans.
This evidence must be preserved, and scientists must be allowed to study it, if
we hope to identify and understand the lives of the earliest Americans.
Science offers the process to test hypotheses using factual evidence.
We must keep our country free for exploring and expressing all views and
explanations of our past.
We must insist that good scientific methods be practiced, free of political
motives.
CREATING NEW TECHNOLOGIES
In previous centuries archeologists were content simply
to find objects. Today, armed with computers, laboratory
analysis, theories about society and culture, and a wide
range of questions about human development and
migration, scientists now have the tools to shed light on
the origins of the First Americans.
In other words - We have the
tools and the technology, why
not use them?
"The business of trying to find out who is related to who is something that we
:
should be aware of.”
C. Loring Brace, is a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan who believes Kennewick
Man may have been a descendant of the ancient Jomon people of Asia.
WHAT THE SCIENTISTS SAY ABOUT
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE KENNEWICK
MAN
“Only through scientific
study of important
discoveries such as
Kennewick Man can
objective knowledge of
America's rich and diverse
past be developed and fully
appreciated by all
communities who have a
stake in the past.”
Dr. Bonnichsen professor of
anthropology at OSU
"He [The Kennewick Man] is going to
continue to reshape our thoughts about
how the world was populated."
Doug Owsley is forensic anthropologist for the National
Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington, D.C.
Sacred rights:
The Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla
The Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla
• Made up of The Umatilla, Yakama, Nez
Perce, Colville, and Wanapum.
• All five tribes have potential ties to
Kennewick Man— these tribes share
similar religion, traditions, and oral
histories going back over 10,000 years;
as such, any remains are ancestral.
They call this ancestor the Ancient One.
• Their people have been part of this land
since the beginning of time.
• Do not believe that their people migrated
to this continent (as scientists do).
Argument for Reburial
“Scientists have dug up and
studied Native Americans for
decades. We view this practice
as desecration of the body
and a violation of our most
deeply-held religious beliefs.”
-Armand Minthorn
• Confederated tribes agree
that the Ancient One should
be reburied as soon as
possible.
• Once a body goes into the
ground it is meant to stay
there until the end of time.
• Leaving the Ancient One
unburied is desecrating this
ancestor.
The Law
• The Ancient One is protected under the
Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA, 1990).
• NAGPRA protects Native American burials
and cultural resources from destruction.
• NAGPRA requires return of human
remains and artifacts that scientists have
been desecrating for years.
The Law (Continued)
• Under NAGPRA Native
American tribes have
the right to file a
claim to have remains
reburied.
• Confederated Tribes
filed a claim based on
belief that the Ancient
One is their ancestor.
Summary of Native American
perspective on Sacred Rights
• Confederated Tribes have lived in North America
since the beginning of time—any human remains
found are ancestors regardless of appearance.
• They are trying to do what is right — rebury
remains that deserve the respect and honor of
burial.
• Science should never take precedence over
religious rights and beliefs of American citizens.
• Tribes expect the Federal Government to uphold
NAGPRA and return the Ancient One.
Questions to Think About
Scientists argue that there is "wide popular interest" in studying
the Kennewick Man so consider:
Is there a public "right to know" that outweighs considerations of
respect for the dead?
Should the majority rule in questions of religious rights? Who is the
majority?
To what extent, from a Native American point of view, might this line of
argument be understood as a variation on "might makes right"?
Who is the Kennewick Man?
The latest findings
•Not European/Caucasian
•Not related to current tribes in area
•Most closely resembles the Polynesian or
Jomon people who are a "south Asian"
population but this is not conclusive.
Skulls older than 8,000 years old have greater physical diversity than do those
of modern Native Americans. This range implies that there was a genetic shift
in populations about 8,000 years ago. This has been used to justify the theory
that migration happened in waves over many years from many places, unlike
the Landbridge theory.
http://www.nps.gov/archeology/kennewick/index.htm