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Erin Smith

Dr. Rolland

ANT 220 A F

5 October 2009

Response to Kennewick Man

The video was the first time I had heard about the Kennewick Man and I was struck by

how well-preserved the skeleton was and the questions its discovery created. I’ve always been

interested in archaeological and anthropological discoveries and mysteries and the complications

brought forth in the Kennewick Man case are fascinating. The facial construction was really

fascinating, especially the Kennewick Man reconstruction’s striking similarity to Patrick Stewart.

While the reconstructions aren’t exact, they do give a good general impression of how the person

appeared while alive.

However, I was not impressed by the NAGPRA, the Umatilla, and other Native

American tribes. Their complete disregard for scientific research and study left me with distaste,

no matter what the reason. This is due to the cultural differences between how I was raised in

Western cultural and how Native Americans are raised in their culture. I was taught from a very

young age that it is immoral and disrespectful to break, desecrate, or cut off any item or

archaeological site from study and research. On the reverse side of the argument, Native

Americans are taught to revere their ancestors and to treat their remains with respect. This

creates conflict between each cultural group. While one believes that scientific study and the

advancement of knowledge is important, the other believes that is is more important to treat the

remains of their ancestors with respect. The debate continues as to who owns what is in the

ground and it is unlikely to stop anytime soon.

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However, in the case of the Kennewick Man, science won and the remains are still

available for research. Science won because there was not enough proof that the Kennewick Man

was a distant relative of Native Americans, as he had Caucasoid features that were more akin to

the Ainu of Japan than Mongoloid features found in most Native Americans descended from the

Clovis culture. There are two theories account for the lack of Caucasoid features in modern

Native Americans, genetic drift and genetic flow, two evolutionary theories. Genetic drift states

that there are random changes in how often a gene appears in a isolated population, due more to

chance than natural selection. This happens when two different cultures interbreed, but only one

genetic make-up survives. Genetic flow, however, is the transfer of genes from one population to

another, essentially that genes mix.

The discussion about the genetic evolution of the early hunter-gather cultures in America

also leads to contemplation about conflict between early hunter-gather cultures. Many of the

skeletons with Caucasoid features found in the Americas had injuries found all over their bodies,

suggesting that life in the early Americans was difficult. In the end, however, while

archaeologists label the physical differences, it is important to remember that all traits and

definitions of the labels are created by archaeologists themselves- “the pencil typology” as

described by Harold Dibble. All are part of the same continuum, just in different parts.