Katherine Reece Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Wade .......
>
> As you can see in my reply to MoonDog I think
> everyone should contact their Congressperson and
> state what they feel best .....
>
> Sorry if my copy and paste of this appears to be
> supporting one position over another...
>
> Kat

By copying comments from a group with a very extreme take on this issue, you DID inadvertantly support one position over another.

My post was NOT aimed at criticizing you, but merely at pointing out that the extremist position taken by that group involves CONSIDERABLE hyperbole and mistatement of fact.

Bluntly, no matter what, NAGPRA will only apply to ~25% of future finds of human remains in the U.S. It only applies to "some" previous finds (and via repatriation related inventory & assessment requirements, has ALREADY led to considerable NEW scientific knowledge about ancient remains, including the identification and study of several very complete PaleoIndian skeletons that were languishing unidentified in museum basements).... AND it specifically exempts the single largest collection of Native American human remains (that held by the Smithsonian Institution) from it's control.

Given international sovereignty, it CANNOT ever apply to remains found in Canada or Mexico or any of the many nations down in Central & South America.

Thus, no matter how fiercely it is enforced, it will have only MINIMAL effect on the study of Native American prehistory.... and given provisions for tribal permission of study, will have NO negative impact on study if certain dammed stiff necked scientists (I'm ONLY speaking of an arrogant & quasi-racist minority of scientists, btw) simply learn how to unbend enough TO ASK PERMISSION OF THE "ignorant" ACTUAL DESCENDANTS..... rather than of the "educated" NON-DESCENDANTS (who are generally of the same race as the scientists in question & who occupy critical positions in various state & federal bureaucracies) as THEY ALREADY DO NOW! Hell, if they can request permission of a WHITE bureaucrat to study some ancient remains NOW, why can't they force themselves to request permission from an INDIAN tribal bureaucrat instead?

And.... by the aforementioned "repatriation related inventory & assessment requirements", NAPGRA has ALREADY led to MORE study of ancient remains than would otherwise have taken place. In fact, NAGPRA related publicity has even led to increased Latin American scrutiny of potentially ancient collections from OUTSIDE the US, leading to the identification of Mexico's Penon Woman III as the probable oldest human remains in the Americas (several other PaleoIndian remains were identified at the same time, from the same Mexican collection)... and to additional study of long known but poorly publicized South American PaleoIndian remains.

Now if the scientific community could learn to work WITH the Native community, they might find that science could benefit from the exchange.....

BTW, everybody can locate contact info for their state senators at [www.senate.gov]

Kenuchelover.