On the morning of July 28, 1996, two men enjoying the annual hydroplane races held on the Columbian River in Washington State unearthed a skull and a nearly complete skeleton 10 feet off the rivers shore line. (1) The anthropologist, DR James Chatters who first studied the remains has dubbed the skeleton “Kennewick Man”. The Native Americans refer to him as “The Ancient One”. The remains are that of a man who lived between 9,200-9,600 years ago. (2) This amazing discovery is now at the center of a national controversy over the interpretation of the Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act, also known as NAGRPA.

NAGPRA applies when human remains and funerary objects are recovered from federal or Indian land. It states that ownership or control of Native American human remains or objects shall be given to lineal descendents of the Native American or Indian tribe on whose land such objects or remains were discovered or Indian tribe which has the closest cultural affiliation and states a claim for such remains or objects to the study of the remains. (3) A coalition of five Native American tribes claim Kennewick Man as an ancestor and have req

Native American activist Steve Russell believes a balance needs to be reached between the scientific community and the Native American people with science recognizing the rights of indigenous people to tell their stories in their own ways and for Native American people to understand the usefulness of the scientific method (16) Sadly the case of the Kennewick Man shows that NAGPRA has clearly failed to provide a clear window of balance in the goals of science and the Native Americans, it may be that both sides view the stakes to simply be to high to work together or that after so many years a simply balanced decision can be found.

uested that his bones be returned for proper burial under NAGRPA. (4) In response to this claim several prominent scientists have sued for the right to study the bones. They argue that the skeleton is too old to be affiliated to any one people and that “Repatriation will deprive scholars of any opportunity or right to study this treasure”, “Study of the skeleton would be of a major benefit to the United States”(5)

When NAGPRA was under consideration, the Society for American Archaeology aggressively supported the repatriation of bones that could be linked to a living people.

As stated by the Society for American Archaeology when NAGPRA was debated to emphasize the value scientists place on the study of human remains “Mortuary evidence is an integral part of the archaeological record of past culture and behavior that it informs directly upon social structure and organization and less directly, upon aspects of religion and ideology. Human remains, as an integral part of the mortuary record, provide unique information about demography, diet, disease, and genetic relationships among human groups. Research in archaeology, bioarchaeology, biological anthropology and medicine depends upon responsible scholars having collections of human remains available both for replicative research and research that addresses new questions or employs analytical techniques. (13) Archaeologists have long debated over NAGPRA and it’s relationship to very ancient artifacts and remains. The debate is that when a site is discovered, especially in the areas of the northern United States how can any certain group prove relationship to the artifacts or remains. It is in this were NAGPRA may not benefit the Native American peoples.

In keeping with the “theory of the Bering Straits crossing” of Native American peopling in this Hemisphere, the findings of ancient remains in Washington State should be of no surprise, this would have been the path the Native Americans used when crossing the land bridge. In fact the Columbia River area contains some of the greatest variety and abundance of Indian artifacts in the United States. The reason the Kennewick Man’s bones have attracted far more attention than other finds is that first, scientists believe these remains may contain new information about ancient people and second, the skull is different from modern Native American remains and from his unique appearance the scientific world believes his bones can speak volumes about our ancient desendents.

This also empowered Native Americans with the choice of how their artifacts are treated such as choosing to have relics returned to their proper place or work with museums or education

Some topics in this essay:
Native American, Native Americans, Archaeology NAGPRA, ARPA ARPA, American Archaeologists, James Chatters, Vermillion Accord, native american, American Indian, Indian Nation, native americans, Kennewick Man’s, human remains, burial sites, native american people, cultural affiliation, scientific research, society american, american people, scientific community, religious beliefs, native american remains, american graves protection, native american graves, society american archaeology,