Kennewick Man and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

The African Burial Ground National Monument in New York recognizes the free and enslaved Africans buried in a 6.6-acre burial ground from the 1690s to 1794 (NPS, 2015). Over time, as the population and modern development proceeded, the cemetery became forgotten. A landfill created over the top of the site, sealed it off from the public’s knowledge. In 1991, contractors were prepping the land for a 34-story, 276-million dollar federal office building (GSA, n.d.). To go forth with construction, contractors worked in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (GSA, n.d.). Together, these acts require publicly funded projects to be surveyed by archaeological field-testing methods,

The law was written to support the efforts of the repatriation movement. As indicated, the law encompasses the field of anthropology, giving anthropologists and archaeologists a chance to determine cultural affiliation of prehistoric populations and allowing for a compromise between tribal groups and the scientific

Did you know that the Natives took hold of ancient bones that probably weren’t even Native? Some people found a full skeleton a that’s about 10,000 years old at the bottom of the Columbia River. The Natives claimed that the old bones were their ancestor and took the bones to the buried. When the bones were found they were turned to scientists to study them. It was found out that were not of Native ancestors. In a 19 year battle the Native Americans won the battle and the bones were buried. We could’ve studied the bones to learn more about the place we live in. This issue is important because in the constitution it reads “...And without unnecessary delay.” but obviously it was delayed 19 years. Kennewick Man should not be repatriated because we don’t even know if the bones are Native and in section 10 of the Washington constitution it says “...Without unnecessary delay.” Also, we could learn more about washington through the bones.

For years, it had been widely accepted “that small bands of humans carrying a generalized Upper Paleolithic tool kit entered the Americas around 11,500 radiocarbon years before the present” (Waters 1122); and that “Archaeologists called these presumed pioneers the Clovis culture, after distinctive stone tools that were found at sites near Clovis, New Mexico, in the 1920s and 1930s” (Curry 13). However, the “peopling” of the Americas and their presumptive date of arrival is a topic of great debate within the field of Archeology; and the discovery of the Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon has thrown a wrench in the once widely accepted hypothesis that the “Clovis complex is considered to be the oldest unequivocal evidence of humans in the

In examining the article “Around the Mall and Beyond”, by Michael Kernan, the author seems to make an argument illustrating the existence of artifacts, practically everywhere. In this article, I concur with his position that there are likely artifacts and remains wherever one might go. This is because we are not the first inhabitants of this land, as such, remains of humans, animals, tools etc. could likely be found in any area if searched for in-depth enough. The author makes a specific reference to the National Historic Preservation Act, which I particularly agree with. The author goes on to use several instances in history where history were discovered on sites which were being considered for or in the process of being converted into

The issue concerning the long battle between Native Americans and scientists seems to go back as long as scientists have begun studying the evolution of the human race. Generally the bones being study come from thousands of years ago and the Native Americans believe strongly that these remains belong to their ancestors. They do not agree at all with the scientists studying their remains and believe that their remains should be given a proper and final burial. In many Native American cultures, this final burial is the way to allow their ancestors to leave this world and to travel into the afterlife. It is a way of putting their soul to rest and allowing them to gracefully depart from this world. But if their remains are being studied and picked apart; the Native Americans believe that this will disturb the path of crossing into the afterlife and could potentially have a bad effect, as well as being very

From the time the first colonies were settled in America, relations between the Native American Indians and white settlers ranged from respected friends to hated enemies. Into the 1800s, Americans who were still in competition with the Indians for land and resources considered them to be uncivilized and barbaric. But many Americans admired the Indians and valued their contributions to American history and culture. These people hoped that with time the Indians could be peaceably assimilated into American society.

The campus uprooted the burial sites and tried to keep them in their archaeology department, but with the fight of my interviewee and many of his fellow tribal members, they were able to have the bodies reburied in their original burial sites. It took a long and hard few years for the Tongva tribe to get justice, as they had to be interrogated by many attorneys and prove their history in the Long Beach area through multiple documents to prove their genealogy to the buried people. I also learned that Puvunga is not only a burial site, but a place for ceremony and prayer. It is one of the largest religious site for Native Americans in the entire country, however most people do not recognize it as such an important landmark. This interview changed my understanding of the Long Beach area and my campus. I realized that this community dates way further back than the westward expansion of the United States and people should educate themselves on the rich history of Long Beach. I learned how awful the United States people and government have treated Native Americans and how their needs to be more justice for the people who were here long before we were.

Many mediums, such as photographs and museums, portray Native Americans as a dying race that was more involved in the past than the present. Throughout many forms of media “images of Indians that suggest they are a part of American history that is no longer with us are abundant.” These misleading photos lead to the common belief that Native group are becoming extinct. However, many Native American groups still exist today despite the general misconception that they were only involved in the past and not the future.

She waited until excavating her second Indian site, the Inyan Ceyaka Atowan (Little Rapid), before asking an Indian standpoint if they are “ok” with her excavation. She went through a decade of summers excavating only acknowledging the what-ifs of Native Indians interpretations and perspectives. Spector at her first site demonstrated little empathy for Indian enquires. Their knowledge on her excavating their land was not her worry (at the time); rather their limited input of the value of the artifacts. Furthermore, it took Spector three year after excavating the site, before opening up channels of communication with the Wahpeton Dakota community. This is a prime example, where her execution to integrate native voices is insufficient. A project that began on the premises of entwining native voices to present their own past is shelved for over three

The discovery of Kennewick man is one of the most important discoveries till today. However, it has a lot of controversies and confusions. Many people are unaware about Kennewick man. So, who is a Kennewick man? Skeletal remains of the pre-historic man were found in Kennewick, Washington in 1996. In this way, the pre-historic man got its name from the place of discovery. After performing several tests on the bone, it was found that these bones were about 9,000 years old.

Two skeletons were uncovered at Deerwood Park, August 21, 2017, early in the morning on a marked trail. No IDs or identification were found on the pair when searched. The police have asked us, forensic anthropologists Dr. Doe and Dr. Smith from Oklahoma University, to identify one of these sets of remains. We were given the humerus, femur, cranium, mandible, and pelvis of the body to measure and examine to determine sex, ethnic origin, age, and height.

Paul A. Shackel was born in 1959. Shackel received his PhD in Anthropology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, in 1987 (University of Maryland Department of Anthropology, N.d). In 1989 to 1996, Shackel began archaeological research at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (University of Maryland Department of Anthropology). In 1996, Shackel began his employment at the National Park Service as a Co-PI for seven and a half years (University of Maryland Department of Anthropology). Shackel is currently a professor and department chair at the University of Maryland, College Park and the Director for the Center of Heritage. In his recent research, he focuses on Northeastern, Pennsylvania studying the site of the Lattimer Massacre

”. Based on this article the prehistoric humans that they claimed lived in the area of California 130,000 years ago might have been a species that they were familiar with, but its not for sure. This information was from a journal that came from an uncovering of Mastodon bones near San Diego. According to the article the earliest piece of evidence that people existed in America was less than 15,000 years old. Based on the information provided the author thought that if humans existed so many years ago then they might not be similar to any living people. This and other information leads the author to believe that the discover of these unknown settlers might be a part of an extinct group. Demere a paleontologist said that the information found from the discovery of these mastodon bones has brought out many questions as to who these unknown people were, who supposedly lived 130,000 years ago.

Prehistoric man has endured misinformation, stereotypes, and a lack of information. The Upper Paleolithic Epoch started 40,000 years ago and goes on until about 12,000 years ago and glacial ice was on the move. Periods of extreame cold were cycled with warmer weather. The habitats of humans and animals was undergoing great and significant changes. Herds of wooly mammoth were moving about, hunter-gathers were following. Through recent discoveries and expansions on old theories, prehistoric man began enjoying a renaissance. The Springfield Museum is proud to shed a new light on ancient man through our exhibit: Prehistoric Man: Addaptor, Innovator, Adventure