kenuchelover Wrote:
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>
> Which in the case of the Navajo, has led to an
> ironic parallel with physical anthropologists. To
> the best of my knowledge (correct me if you've
> heard otherwise), while the Navajo Nation is
> opposed to digging up remains, this belief system
> leads them to avoid applying for repatriation of
> remains (don't want to handle them, or maybe feel
> damage already done & don't want negative
> consequences going to the wrong people? .... so
> that scientists & institutions have been
> allowed to keep ALREADY excavated remains.

lol, this is so true!! If somebody has disturbed or removed the remains of the dead, that person probably already has that spirit attached to them. Anything that qualifies as ancestral puebloan (Anasazi) is even less likely to get repatriated because it's anasazi...

From what I've been told, most potential archaeological sites on the Navajo reservation simply go unreported. The Navajo leave them alone and figure it's best if everybody else did, too.

>
> The remains WERE found amidst the washed out
> remains of a White homesteader's midden, and
> didn't "look" that old (color, condition, etc).
> So a certain degree of careless conclusion jumping
> might be forgiven.
>
> But.... Chatters has CONTINUED to make false
> statements of the stereotypical variety ("all
> Indians look this way", "all PaleoIndians looked
> that way", "and never the twain shall meet"). So
> he was either criminally ignorant (given his
> profession, and the fact that he charged people
> money for his professional opinion & efforts)
> of Native American AND PaleoIndian features, and
> has continually refused to acknowledge said gaps
> in knowledge & fill them.... or he's been
> consciously lying the whole time (seeking
> publicity, seeking to gut NAGPRA, acting out a
> racist fantasy, getting psychic revenge on some
> unknown Indian who slighted him 30 yrs ago, Quien
> Sabe?)

Yeah, Chatters definitely went overboard on Kennewick Man. I have a real problem with people who think that all native americans look like Plains or Iroquois...The simple fact is that there is really alot of facial diversity in the tribes--just like any group. To think anything otherwise is at the least ignorance and at the worst, racism.
>
> Eh, no offense, but I'd disagree. It wasn't the
> claim of "one of your ancient ancestors were
> caucasian" that caused the conflagation (Indians
> aren't hung up on racial purity, and certain
> tribes SPECIFICALLY believe that their ancient
> ancestors looked different).....

Considering that I'm a white lady in a Navajo family, I think it's pretty safe to say that I know this. There's only a few that would take umbrage to the idea of having a caucasian ancestor...a very few! I could've gone into alot of detail as to why the whole Kennewick Man thing went so badly but I was just trying to brief.
>
>
> ..... it was the "Indians all look alike" &
> the "Caucasians were here BEFORE your ancestors
> (despite the existance of Indian looking
> PaleoIndian remains OLDER than Kennewick)" &
> the "your mongoloid ancestors must have wiped out
> our caucasoid relatives" & the "maybe this
> will affect the validity of treaties & remove
> that pesky Native sovereignty issue" claims that
> got Indian danders up. Oh, and "Looks
> Caucasian/etc" claims by scientists who HADN'T
> examined the remains, and other such bits of
> disregard for the scientific process.

And this is part of what is involved in what I consider to be spirtual beliefs. The tribes have their own histories and they don't necessarily match what they've been told by those outside of the tribes. That's a problem. And you're right, as I followed the whole Kennewick man debate, I saw time and time again, people popping up out of nowhere claiming that their rights as being the "first americans" were now less appropriate. Imo, it doesn't matter if they were the first to arrive here or the 30th, the tribes still preceded us!!

> I dunno.... seeing how badly White society acted
> up on this issue, it DID give me a better
> appreciation for letting the dead rest in
> peace.... no matter HOW old they are.

Well, I'm glad it did. The major part of the battle was before I met my husband and, personally, I saw both points of view. I could see the desire for information about the past and I could understand how appalling such a thing might be to a group of people. I'm still mixed but today, if I were pressed for an answer in a similiar situation, I really think I'd side with the tribes.

Stephanie




In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson