Quote

We are living through a revolution in the
> scientific study of human history. Because of
> recent technical developments in approaches for
> recovering and analyzing DNA, plus sequencing
> whole genomes, geneticists’ and archaeologists’
> ability to ask and answer questions about the past
> has improved dramatically.
>
> Scientists once thought the peopling of the
> Americas occurred around 13,000 years ago,
> following the last ice age, when a small group of
> people crossed the Bering Land Bridge from
> Northeast Asia to Northwestern Alaska. In the last
> 10 to 20 years, however, a mountain of new
> evidence has emerged, showing us that people had
> been in the Americas for thousands of years before
> then.
>
> This is not a surprise to Indigenous peoples, many
> of whom have Traditional Histories that situate
> their origins within what is today known as the
> Americas. Some Indigenous people view their origin
> stories as literal, while some see them as
> metaphorical and compatible with Western science.
> Indeed, some Native American archaeologists have
> demonstrated the importance of Oral Traditions in
> interpreting the archaeological record and call
> for careful and analytical study of these
> traditions and the integration of any clues they
> might give for understanding the past.
>
> I present this history of the last 36,000 years of
> migration from the perspective of a Western
> scientist who places genetic evidence in the
> forefront of the investigation and then tests the
> models it produces with archaeological,
> linguistic, and environmental evidence. For many
> Indigenous peoples, this is not the whole story or
> the only story that should be told.
>
> As you read this genetic chronicle, please do not
> lose sight of the dignity of the human beings who
> lived this history and the rich complexity of
> individual existences that are lost in the
> telling. The story I tell here is akin to
> reconstructing a person’s entire life by stitching
> together the photos they posted on Instagram. Not
> inaccurate, necessarily, just … incomplete.
>
> Excerpted from Origin: A Genetic History of the
> Americas. © 2022 by Jennifer Raff. Published by
> Twelve Books.
>
> [www.amazon.com]
>
>