Friends of America's Past

The Earliest Americans | Challenges to Preserving the Past

Evidence of the Past: A Map and Status of Ancient Remains

(updated 3/31/01: Amendment to new state law puts Anzick, MT remains in jeopardy)

Cleone Hawkinson and Beth Walton
Friends of America's Past

Ancient biologically and culturally unaffiliated skeletons are being lost forever.

  • Why are remains being given to tribes who have not and cannot establish any relationship?
  • Why are government agencies dictating what science can be conducted, what questions can be asked, and who will be allowed to study?
  • Should we accept limited conclusions as the full story of the past?
  • Why are scientists not allowed to study human evidence from the past?
  • Is it right that future generations can never answer their questions because this generation has destroyed the source of information?
  • Do we really know everything we need to know?

Government agencies are ignoring the public trust and are actively supporting the destruction of evidence about the past.

Where do we draw the line? If we don't stand up for preserving human remains from the ancient past, are we ready to lose what may be taken next?

Pelican Rapids woman - (Minnesota) - GONE FOREVER

  • Also known as Minnesota Woman
  • 7,800 years old
  • Cranium and post cranium
  • Excellent condition
  • Discovered in 1931 during highway repair
  • Some studies conducted but the skeleton is lost forever to answer future questions
  • DNA tests conducted
  • Shows no affinity to modern American Indian groups in the Jantz/Owsley database
  • Reburied in South Dakota on October 2, 1999 by Sioux tribes

Browns Valley male (Minnesota) - GONE FOREVER

  • 8,900 years old
  • Cranium and some post cranium
  • Found on private land, given to the care and trust of Hamline University and fast-tracked onto an existing repatriation claim by a Minnesota State Archeologist
  • Moderate condition
  • Some studies conducted but the skeleton is lost forever to answer future questions
  • DNA tests conducted
  • Shows no affinity to modern American Indian groups in the Jantz/Owsley database
  • Reburied in South Dakota on October 2, 1999 by Sioux tribes

Buhl Woman (Idaho) - GONE FOREVER

  • 10,800 years old
  • Cranium and post cranium
  • 17-20 years old and in excellent condition
  • Found in a quarry in 1989
  • Limited study with no opportunity for independent verification
  • The skeleton is lost forever to answer future questions
  • No DNA testing
  • Reanalysis of published data shows no affinity to modern Amerindian groups in the Jantz/Owsley database
  • Reburied in 1991 by Shoshone Bannock tribes

Hour Glass Cave (Colorado) GONE FOREVER

  • 7,700-7,900 years old
  • Male in early 40s
  • Found in 1988 in a cave in the Colorado Rockies
  • Skull cap and post cranium
  • Some studies conducted but the skeleton is lost forever to answer future questions
  • Few metrics available for analysis
  • DNA tests conducted
  • Reburied by Southern Ute Tribe

Kennewick Man (Washington) - NOT AVAILABLE FOR STUDY & IN JEOPARDY

  • 9200 years old (confirming tests underway)
  • Cranium and post cranium
  • Good condition, ~ 80% complete
  • Limited study by two government-selected scientists
  • No peer review or independent validation of their data or conclusions
  • Not available for study by other scientists
  • DNA testing halted and sample returned by government order
  • In danger of being lost to answer many current questions and future questions
  • Curated by Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle

Spirit Cave (Nevada) - IN JEOPARDY

  • 9,400 years old (multiple dates)
  • 40-44 year old male mummy in excellent condition
  • Cranium and post cranium
  • An associated cremation, probable female about 14 years old
  • Some studies conducted
  • No DNA testing - requests denied
  • Shows no affinity to modern Amerindian samples in the Jantz/Owsley database
  • In danger of being lost forever to answer future questions
  • Discussions on repatriation in progress with Northern Paiute tribes, under BLM jurisdiction.
  • Curated at the Nevada State Museum, Carson City

Wizards Beach man (Nevada) - IN JEOPARDY

  • 9,200 - 9,500 years old (multiple dates)
  • 30-42 years old
  • Cranium and post cranium
  • Robust individual
  • Some studies conducted
  • Shows some similarities to modern American Indians
  • DNA tests conducted
  • In danger of being lost to answer future questions
  • Discussions on repatriation in progress with the Paiute tribes, BIA jurisdiction, from Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation
  • Curated at the Nevada State Museum, Carson City

Grimes Point Burial Shelter (Nevada) - IN JEOPARDY

  • 9740 years old (needs bone dating)
  • Probable female 8.5 - 10.5 years old
  • Cranium and some post cranium
  • Some study
  • No DNA testing - requests denied
  • In danger of being lost to answer future questions
  • Discussions on repatriation in progress with the Northern Paiute tribes, under BLM jurisdiction.
  • Curated at the Nevada State Museum, Carson City

Nebraska Remains - IN JEOPARDY

  • Wet Gravel Male and Female, Lime Creek Male, Swanson Lake Male, Gilder Mound, Platsmouth Ossuary (2)
  • None dated
  • Some limited study, now study requests are being denied
  • Wet Gravel Male may show some affinities to modern groups
  • Wed Gravel Female, Lime Creek, and Swanson Lake show no affinity to modern American Indian samples in the Jantz/Owsley database
  • Unable to verify status. Possibly still curated at the Nebraska State Museum under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Reclamation or the Nebraska State Historical Society

Horn Shelter (Texas) UNCLAIMED FOR NOW

  • 9,600 years old (waiting for second dates)
  • Two individuals, an adult male and a possible female about 14 years old
  • Cranium and post cranium
  • Some studies conducted
  • DNA testing underway
  • Available for study with assistance offered through the Strecker Museum, Baylor University, Austin Texas
  • Shows no affinity to modern Amerindian samples in the Jantz/Owsley database
  • Private collection

Anzick burials (Montana) IN JEOPARDY

  • Child about 18 months
  • 10,800 years old
  • Partial cranium and clavicle
  • A second individual - skull fragment about 8,000 years old
  • Well preserved chemically and has been dated several times
  • Only human remains ever found in association with Clovis artifacts
  • Some studies conducted
  • DNA testing planned
  • Private collection threatened by a new Montana law. Only the associated artifacts are exempt.

Prospect male (Oregon) GONE FOREVER

  • Greater than 6,800 years old - below Mazama volcanic ash layer
  • Bone needs to be dated
  • Cranium and some post cranium
  • Good condition
  • Some studies conducted
  • Shows some similarity to modern American Indians
  • No DNA testing
  • Curated at the University of Oregon, Eugene until September 1999
  • Repatriated for reburial to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde

Whitewater Draw (Arizona) UNCLAIMED FOR NOW

  • 8,000-10,000 years old
  • Two individuals
  • Sulfur Springs woman is fragmented, incomplete, skull cap
  • Some studies conducted
  • DNA testing underway
  • One skeleton submitted to Texas A&M to be inventoried for NAGPRA
  • The second individual curated by the Peabody Museum

Arlington Springs woman (California) UNCLAIMED FOR NOW

  • Also known as Channel Island woman
  • 10,000 - 13,000 (multiple dates)
  • Only 3 post cranial bones (2 femora; one humerus)
  • Some studies conducted
  • DNA testing inconclusive; the lab at UC Davis was unsuccessful in sequencing any DNA from Arlington Springs Woman through repeated trials. Haplogroup B is uncorroborated.
  • Curated at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Gordon Creek, (Colorado) IN JEOPARDY

  • 9,700 years old
  • Probable female
  • Some studies conducted
  • No DNA testing - requests denied
  • Curated at the University of Colorado
  • Active repatriation of unaffiliated remains increasing

Wilson-Leonard (Texas) UNCLAIMED FOR NOW

  • 9,000-11,000
  • Skeleton in 'compressed' condition
  • Some studies conducted
  • DNA testing underway
  • Responsibility of the Texas Department of Highway Transportation and curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin

"The time of prehistory is, in the end, the province of archeology. The more roadblocks that are thrown in its path by politicians and militants, as well as the disinterest of an apathetic majority, the more difficult it becomes to know where we all came from, who we are, and what made us that way."
(James A. Hanson in Spirits in the Art, 1994)

"My people have been here since time began. I know how the world began, and I know how the world will end. My elders have told me. Scientists tell us 'You crossed this (land) bridge.' Well that is not having any respect for my life. We have our own languages, our own religions, our own foods. Because it is not written in a book doesn't make it any less."
(Armand Minthorn, Confederated Umatilla Journal editorial, August 5, 1999)

"There is very strong evidence that the Kennewick Man has his ultimate roots in Europe, and that as such it should not be the American Indians or the United States Government that determine his fate."
(Stephen McNallen, Asatru Folk Assembly, to Hilly Rose for Art Bell Show October, 1999)

"It's time to stand up for our right to ask questions about the past."
(Douglas W. Owsley, Ph.D. ABC's 60 Minutes, 1998)

"We all share the past, no one owns it"
(Friends of America's Past, 1998)

Return to Challenges to Preserving the Past