Briggs: Battle lines still drawn in the Ancient One’s case
By
Kara Briggs, Columnist
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| The battle over the ancestral remains of Indian nations along the Columbia River didn’t begin or end with the famous Kennewick Man case. |
At the winter conference of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, the culture and elder committee held emotional meetings in which leaders from these and related tribes reflected on the pending Marmes decision, and on the famed case the tribes lost in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004.
Speaking sometimes in Sahaptian and sometimes in English, Joe Jay Pinkham, a Yakama elder and tribal council member, described the anguish of viewing remains, some of which were accompanied by garments emblazoned with family symbols recognized by descendants.
Pinkham posed the questions which these four Indian nations will have to answer as parts of the Marmes collection are returned: What will we do when we find someone from a related tribe? How will we notify them? How will families cope when the remains of close relatives are returned?
The question before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as it determines which remains from the Marmes site to return to the tribes, are different from what they might have been if the Ancient One had never been unearthed.
The operative question now is how far back in time can tribes assert affiliation; if remains date back to the age of say the Kennewick Man are they indigenous? Or are they the skeletal remains of some Paleocene-era travelers who were circumnavigating the globe?
Since a 2004 ruling telling tribes they had not proved that the Ancient One’s remains were those of an American Indian, an argument has arisen for not returning the oldest remains to the Indian nations whose oral histories claim them.
“The court said oral traditions have limited utility when compared to scientific studies done by people like the plaintiffs,” said Audie Huber, intergovernmental affairs manager for the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla’s natural resources department. “That is an affront to tribal beliefs. The oral tradition dates back thousands of years, as it does in many cultures around the world. The fact that some are written down seems to make them more sacred.”
The lingering issue – forgetting for a minute the Ancient One’s remains stored in the University of Washington’s Burke Museum – is that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals left an “opt out” provision for scientists to get around the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act, Huber said. NAGPRA provides a process for the return of Native American cultural items, including human remains that are culturally affiliated with tribes, or even Native American remains for which cultural affiliation is unidentifiable. But if scientists argue, as eight did in the case of Kennewick Man, that remains are not the ancestors of contemporary tribes, then they might not have to abide by NAGPRA.
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The oral tradition dates back thousands of years, as it does in many cultures around the world. -- Audie Huber, intergovernmental affairs manager for the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla’s natural resources department |
Absent oral histories, tribal recourse is limited.
“One of the underlying assumptions is this record has to be demonstrated by archaeologists who are out there digging up our dead,” Huber said. “That’s not what we do. We don’t generally dig up our dead.”
In the ATNI elders and culture committee, Harvey Moses of the Confederated Tribes of Colville brought a resolution to ask the government to release the results of the scientists’ studies of the Ancient One. The resolution was adopted. The Colville Tribes sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking about findings.
But the corps has not received any more information about the plaintiffs’ research than the tribes have, said Jennifer Richman, an attorney in the Portland office of the corps.
Jim Chatters, the forensic archaeologist at the center of the Kennewick Man dispute, the one who first theorized that the remains were those of an ancient Caucasian, said the findings will be published likely through the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M University once the reports are finished. Samples were taken from the remains before 2006. Twenty scientists have conducted research.
It’s not clear, Chatters said, whether there is enough material intact to study DNA. The findings to date are more about “the man himself than anything that would get political.”
| The battle over Kennewick Man continues to cast a long shadow over Indian nations’ righteous fight for the dignified reburial of remains. |
But the battle over Kennewick Man continues to cast a long shadow over Indian nations’ righteous fight for the dignified reburial of remains. In the court of public opinion, Indian claims to ancestral remains could again be challenged, Huber said.
“Any scientist could come out of left field and say these guys are Vikings. Anyone with a Web site could come up with a theory, and have equal access as the tribes to the press.”
Kara Briggs, Yakama and Snohomish, is a columnist with Indian Country Today. She operates Red Hummingbird Media Corp. and lives at the Tulalip reservation in Washington state. Follow her on Facebook.
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Sunday, Mar 29 at 1:59 PM footsore wrote ...
I find it irrating that you should give Chatters any credence at all. It was his haphazard recovery of the remains,No griding of the dig,no photos of bone placement,no corroborating dig notes. He just grabbed the bones and carried them off to his basement. Then one night he gets the idea that the ancient one looks just like Jon Luc Picard of star trek fame. Real scientific.You should have asked him about the still unresolved issue of fewer bones turned over to the authorities than he uncovered.
18735692Monday, Mar 23 at 2:12 AM anon wrote ...
didn't see anyone getting this up in arms over Lucy exhibit down at the science center. I do understand that this is really about the right to insist that people not go digging up and displaying your great aunt at the burke because she's now archeologically significant. but where exactly should the line be drawn between investigatable sites and graveyards?
18402112Saturday, Mar 21 at 11:20 AM Desatoya wrote ...
With evolution of man throughout time, how is it possible to maintain permanency? Everyone on this earth has migrated from one location to another and so have the Indians. Science and general populace will attempt to devalue our existence, but we must remain steady. Indians were generally localized, therefore their oral history depicts their origination - this must be the defense to pass unto younger generations.
18354866Wednesday, Mar 18 at 4:02 PM Karen K wrote ...
this issue is VERY important, thank you for the concise coverage.
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