Scientists 1...'Native' Americans.0

[crimresearch]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040205/ap_on_sc/kennewick_man_2

[Hexxenhammer]

Cool. Kennewick man is an enigma that really needs to be studied. I understand the tribe's position, but they're basing their argument on a creation story just like the fundies trying to stop the teaching of evolution.

[Agammamon]

. . ."The 9th Circuit turned the statute on its head," Smith said. "The law Congress passed gives tribes the right to prevent the study of remains. What the 9th Circuit seems to have done is to require the tribes to prove the remains are Native American before the statute applies." . . .

So what, is this guy implying that he feels that they should be able to prevent the study of any remains they feel like, whether or not they are Native American?

[Hand Bent Spoon]

Yes, we need to be careful not to embrace the same anti-intellectualism that ensured that the native peoples of the Americas would be unable to defend thier way of life, thereby having their cultures, for all intents and purposes destroyed.

We make the same mistake of embracing anti-intellecualism at our own peril.

[MRC_Hans]

Funny thing this. In my neck of the woods, human remains, which are potentially ancestors of anybody here, can be studied for scientific purposes even after a short span of times... a century or so.

Why are these people not interested in their own history?

Hans

[crimresearch]

IIRC, didn't the examinations done when the remains were first uncovered, imply evidence which may have challenged the conventional wisdom that today's Native Americans were the original inhabitants of the American continent?
Perhaps that had something to do with the claims of ancestral sanctity for non-ancestral remains.

Paul Nunis

[Pyrrho]

Interesting. It would seem that in order to determine if the bones should be subjected to scientific study or returned to the Native Americans and not be scientifically studied, they had to be scientifically studied.


Interior Department scientists concluded the remains were unlike those of any known modern Indians but it did not rule out some distant biological connection. The appeals court, however, said there must be a more recent link to justify returning the bones and preventing any scientific study.

The very thing they sought to prevent has been done.

As far as I know, the Native Americans view these bones as bones of their ancestors, and are thus worthy of respect, if not reverence.

[rachaella]

Originally posted by Pyrrho
Interesting. It would seem that in order to determine if the bones should be subjected to scientific study or returned to the Native Americans and not be scientifically studied, they had to be scientifically studied.



The very thing they sought to prevent has been done.

As far as I know, the Native Americans view these bones as bones of their ancestors, and are thus worthy of respect, if not reverence.

I think any human bones are worthy of respect if not reverence, what makes American Indian bones any different? Scientific inquiry must not be sacrificed, nor should respect for human remains be sacrificed.

[kittynh]

well, and let's not act like all Native Americans followed the same religious beliefs. The tribes and their beliefs are totally diverse. For some tribes, the bones were considered sacred. Other tribes were into burning remains - burial was not a religious option. Other tribes left remains to be picked over by birds. Lots of variety. don't blame them for wanting to yank around the government some, but trust me, most East Coast tribes are very very "diluted". Not quite the same unbroken cultural line as the Western Natives.

[Jeff Corey]

Originally posted by kittynh
... trust me, most East Coast tribes are very very "diluted". Not quite the same unbroken cultural line as the Western Natives.
It's diluted in my family. Too diluted to get a piece of the Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods action, even though some of my family is originally from around there.

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by crimresearch
IIRC, didn't the examinations done when the remains were first uncovered, imply evidence which may have challenged the conventional wisdom that today's Native Americans were the original inhabitants of the American continent?
Perhaps that had something to do with the claims of ancestral sanctity for non-ancestral remains.

Paul Nunis More likely if Kennewick man doesn't seem to have much in common with native american phenotypes it means that there were maybe several different populations that migrated to North America over the land bridge. It's not like they knew it was a land bridge and it was there for hundreds if not thousands of years.

[Ove]

Wasn't he shot too? I believe they found an arrowhead in him. It would somehow tamper with the image of the "peacefull native living in harmony".

But seriously it is a giant leap for sience. The mere fact that ancient superstition has upheld a sientific investigation for quite soem years now is schocking. I would like to se a sun worshipper try to stop the opening of a mummy.

I realise that when events are close, like Titanic, there are some sentiments that can be stirred but on the other hand sentiments must never get in the way of sience. Some people sugessted f.inst. that the wreck of "Estonia" should be covered with concrete and that way "creating a chapel under the waves" in respect of the dead "(400+).

I DO respect the dead but i also find it is quite vital that we get that ship properly investigated or at least that we do not make such an investigation impossible. (i know the cause of the accident is more or less established but rumours are stil flying).