“Skull Wars”

Native American Genetic Origins

Learner Outcomes

Learner will articulate the concept of the Bering Land Bridge.Learner will identify “three wave theory” of peopling of North America.Learner will critique the European origin speculation of “Kennewick man.”Learner will know more about genetic “stuff” than Walter.

Who is an American Indian?

Ward Churchill – Supporter of Terror?Ward Churchill – Supporter of Terror?

Churchill wrote an Churchill wrote an essay after the 2001 essay after the 2001 terrorist attacks terrorist attacks calling the World calling the World Trade Center victims Trade Center victims "little Eichmanns," a "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf reference to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi Eichmann, the Nazi who helped who helped orchestrate the orchestrate the Holocaust. Holocaust.

Academic MisconductFalsification with regard to his description of the General Allotment Act of 1887, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, the 1614-1618 smallpox epidemic in New England, and the smallpox epidemic at Fort Clark in 1837-1840.

Fabrication with regard to his description of the 1614-1618 smallpox epidemic in New England and the smallpox epidemic at Fort Clark.

Plagiarism of Professor Fay Cohen and of a pamphlet by the Dam the Dams group

Failure to comply with established standards regarding author names on publications, as discussed most fully in the Investigative Committee’s description of work attributed to Rebecca Robbins but also with regard to his description of the General Allotment Act of 1887, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, and the smallpox epidemic at Fort Clark.

Serious deviation from accepted practices in reporting results from research, as discussed in his account of the smallpox epidemic at Fort Clark.

Ethnic background – “is he is or is he ain’t?”

In 2003, Churchill stated, "I am myself of Muscogee and Creek descent In 2003, Churchill stated, "I am myself of Muscogee and Creek descent on my father's side, Cherokee on my mother's, and am an enrolled on my father's side, Cherokee on my mother's, and am an enrolled member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.“ In 1992, member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.“ In 1992, Churchill wrote elsewhere that he is one-eighth Creek and one-Churchill wrote elsewhere that he is one-eighth Creek and one-sixteenth Cherokee. In 1993, Churchill told the sixteenth Cherokee. In 1993, Churchill told the Colorado DailyColorado Daily that, "he that, "he was one-sixteenth Creek and Cherokee.“ Churchill told the was one-sixteenth Creek and Cherokee.“ Churchill told the Denver Denver PostPost in February 2005 that he is three-sixteenths Cherokee. in February 2005 that he is three-sixteenths Cherokee.The United Keetoowah Band clarified that Churchill was never an The United Keetoowah Band clarified that Churchill was never an enrolled member, but was awarded an honorary associate membership enrolled member, but was awarded an honorary associate membership in May 1994, as were Bill Clinton and others; honorary associate in May 1994, as were Bill Clinton and others; honorary associate membership recognizes assistance to the tribe, but does not indicate membership recognizes assistance to the tribe, but does not indicate Indian ancestry or enrollment. The Keetoowah Band states that Indian ancestry or enrollment. The Keetoowah Band states that Churchill still holds the honorary associate membership, that it hasn't Churchill still holds the honorary associate membership, that it hasn't been rescinded, and that the Keetoowah Band stopped recognizing been rescinded, and that the Keetoowah Band stopped recognizing such memberships in 1994.such memberships in 1994.The The Rocky Mountain NewsRocky Mountain News, in 2005, published a genealogy of , in 2005, published a genealogy of Churchill, and reported "no evidence of a single Indian ancestor" [of Churchill, and reported "no evidence of a single Indian ancestor" [of Churchill's]. The Churchill's]. The NewsNews reported that both of Churchill's birth parents reported that both of Churchill's birth parents were listed as white on the 1930 census, as were all of his other known were listed as white on the 1930 census, as were all of his other known ancestors on previous censuses and other official documents. ancestors on previous censuses and other official documents. However, it confirmed that there had been a longstanding belief in However, it confirmed that there had been a longstanding belief in Indian ancestry in Churchill's family.Indian ancestry in Churchill's family.

Three Wave Theory

People came in three waves of migration

Amerinds (21,000+ B.P.)

NaDene (ancestors of Navajo, Apache, and Dine) (12,000 B.P.)

Eskimo-Aleut (6,000 B.P.)

Evidence for 3-wave

Linguistic evidenceGlottochronology

Words change gradually but at steady rateComparison of contemporary native languages can give a time frame for their first divergence, and can reconstruct proto-language

Linguistic evidence. Joseph Greenberg suggested three separate migrations:

Amerind before 11,000 B.P., Na-Denes (Athabaskan) ca. 9000 B.P., and AleutEskimo about 4000 B.P.

Evidence for 3-Wave (continued)

Genetic research.

mtDNA-mitochondria passed down by women, shows relationships.

All modern, Native Americans are descended from a single group of Asians.

But, earlier migrations of people from Europe could have died out.

Footnote:

A recent molecular genetics study suggests that the American Indian population in the Americas may be derived from a theoretical founding population with an effective size of as small as 70.

On the Number of New World Founders: A Population Genetic Portrait of the Peopling of the AmericasPLoS Biol. 2005 June; 3(6): Jody Hey, Department of Genetics, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey

mtDNA-based chart of large human migrations. mtDNA-based chart of large human migrations.

A – Z = Haplogroups

Evidence for 3-wave (continued)Biological Evidence

Very few skeletal remains dating to this time period (>9,000 B.P.).

Browns Valley, Wyoming

Horn Shelter, Texas

Hourglass Cave, Colorado

Spirit Cave, Nevada

Wizard Beach, Nevada

Gore Creek, British Columbia

Kennewick Man, Washington

Encounter with an Ancestor (But Whose?)

“Seeing the Elephant”

Kennewick Man9,300 year old skeleton, 5 ft. 9 in tall, purposely buried, middle aged at death, cause of which is undetermined

Man injured by projectile, non-fatal

Physically appears Caucasian

Debate over race and who got here first

Did he represent a race of Europeans who were killed out or absorbed?

James Chatters, forensic anthropologist

“Many of these characteristics are definitive of modern-day caucasoid peoples, while others, such as the orbits are typical of neither race.” 

“Caucasoid" does not mean European. Rather caucasoids refers to a large highly variable population that includes Polynesians, Australians and the Ainu as well as Europeans

Kennewick arose from the same general population that gave rise to Polynesians, Australians and the Ainu.

Thank you, Samuel George Morton !

“Skull Wars”

Fifty two measurements of the skull were taken and the measurements were compared to a wide variety of populations around the world. The results were interesting. In most of the tests ran Kennewick was most closely related to populations in southern Japan (i.e. the Ainu) and Polynesia (the Moriori and Easter Islanders) followed by archaic Native American populations such as Indian Knoll and, in some analysis, the Chukchi of Siberia.

Cat Scan

Cascade PointCascade Point

Analysis of Lithic Artifact Embedded in the Columbia Park

Remains - John L. Fagan

The Columbia Park specimen more closely resembles the Cascade projectile point type, than either the earlier or later period projectile point types commonly found in the Pacific Northwest. By comparison, the Columbia Park specimen is considered to be a Cascade point or a variant of a Cascade point and is thought to represent a tool made and used during Early Archaic times between 7,000 and 5,000 years ago.

Sundadont (South China Sea) and Sinodont (China)

Kennewick/Kennewick/Many EuropeansMany Europeans ModernModern

Native AmericansNative Americans

Kennewick Man Facial Reconstruction

"Black Hawk and His Son, Whirling Thunder"  1833 Sauk Tribe, Illinois

John Wesley Jarvis (1780-1840) 

Scientific Comparison

Comparisons of Kennewick skull with world populations suggest he looks most like the Ainu.

A sea hunting, fishing and trading people who are still centered on Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan.

The completed lip tattoos of women were significant in The completed lip tattoos of women were significant in regards to Ainu perceptions of life experience. First, regards to Ainu perceptions of life experience. First, these tattoos were believed to repel evil spirits from these tattoos were believed to repel evil spirits from entering the body (mouth) and causing sickness or entering the body (mouth) and causing sickness or misfortune. Secondly, the lip tattoos indicated that a misfortune. Secondly, the lip tattoos indicated that a woman had reached maturity and was ready for woman had reached maturity and was ready for marriage. And finally, lip tattoos assured the woman life marriage. And finally, lip tattoos assured the woman life after death in the place of her deceased ancestors. after death in the place of her deceased ancestors.

Kennewick not the only one:Spirit Cave Man ca. 9,100 BP.

Kennewick

Report on DNA Analysis of the Remains of "Kennewick Man" from Columbia Park, WashingtonBy David Glenn Smith, Ripan S. Malhi, Jason A. Eshleman, and Frederika A. Kaestle

U.C. Davis Molecular Anthropology Laboratory

No DNA suitable for PCR amplification could be extracted from the Kennewick samples studied. Thus, no conclusion regarding its ethnic ancestry or cultural affiliation based on DNA can be made. The source of all DNA that could be amplified in our studies was hypothesized to be one of two persons (FAK and JAE) who participated in the DNA analysis. Inhibitors were judged not to have interfered with amplifications because 1) primer-dimer formation occurred, 2) serial dilutions of PCR products did not lead to successful amplification and 3) mtDNA was successfully amplified from (i.e. was not inhibited by) a (50:50) mixture of a known positive sample and each of the PCR products. Since this particular sample from the Kennewick remains is likely to be the most optimal for extraction of DNA for analysis, it is unlikely that further analysis of other elements (e.g., teeth or a much larger portion of bone) would be successful.

Genetic Links

First, an explanation of the theory behind using genetics to determine Native American identity is in order. Scientists have found certain variations, or “markers” in human genes that they call Native American markers because they believe all “original” Native Americans had these genetic traits. The theory is that, if a person has one of these markers, certain ancestors of the person must have been Native American.

Thanks to …Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (IPCB)

The Theory: Native American Genetic Markers

The markers are principally analyzed in two locations in people's genes‚ in their mitochondrial DNA and on the Y-chromosome. On the mitochondrial DNA, there are a total of five different “haplotypes,” called A, B, C, D, and X, which are increasingly called “Native American markers,” and are believed to be a genetic signature of the founding ancestors.

As for the Y-chromosome, there are two primary lineages or “haplogroups” that are seen in modern Native American groups, called M3 and M45.

Some scientists maintain that up to 95% of all Native American Y-chromosomes are from these two groups (with the rest being from either Asian lineages or non-native haplogroups). It must be pointed out that none of these markers is exclusive to Native American populations‚ all can be found in other populations around the world. They simply occur with more frequency in Native American populations.

Mitochondrial Analysis for Native American Marker Genes

Both females and males inherit their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) only from their mother. This line of biological inheritance, therefore, stops with each male. That means that, if you think of your 4 great-grandmothers, you and all your brothers and sisters have inherited your mtDNA only from your maternal grandmother's mother.

Your other 3 great-grandmothers and your 4 great-grandfathers have contributed none of your mtDNA. If you are female, you and your sisters will, in turn, transmit that great-grandmother’s mtDNA to all your children, but your brothers won't transmit it to their children. In other words, your mtDNA is identical to that of your mother's mother's mother, but does not constitute a biological line of descent from your other 7 great-grandparents. If that great-grandmother happened to have the genetic variations that have been labeled as either A, B, C, D, or X, then by having the same mtDNA yourself, you will have inherited a “Native American” mtDNA marker.

Of course, if all your other great grandparents were Native American, and your mother’s mother’s mother was non-Indian, then you will not likely have one of the “Native American” mtDNA haplotypes. So, 7 of your 8 great-grandparents may be Indian, and yet you would not be identified as Indian from this test. Moreover, it really goes farther than that, since the mtDNA only comes from the purely maternal line. If you go back two more generations, 31 of your 32 great-great-great grandparents could be Indian. Yet you could not be identified as Native American using this test if that one of your 16 (great-great-great) grandmothers who is part of your female lineage was not Native American (or more specifically if her mother did not have one of the five haplotypes called “Native American.”)

Y-Chromosome Analysis for Native American Markers

Males inherit a close copy of their Y-chromosome from their fathers. Females do not have a Y-chromosome. So males could also be tested for “Native American markers” on their Y-chromosome, but the analysis has similar limitations as testing mtDNA.

Here again, the test only traces one line of ancestry, and misses most of the subjects' ancestry because the vast majority of the ancestors are invisible to the test. If a man has 15 Native American great-great-grandparents, but his father's father's father's father was non-Indian, that person will not appear to be Native American under this test.

So, almost 94% of that person's genetic inheritance may be from Native Americans, but under this test he may be identified as “non-Indian”. And, like mtDNA analysis using the purely maternal line, using Y-chromosome analysis to determine Native American ancestry ignores a greatly increasing percentage of a person's ancestry as you go more generations into the past with the analysis.

Challenges

The Tests Yield False Negatives

The Tests Also Yield False Positives

Tribes Do Not Differ From One Another In Ways That Geneticists Can Detect

CONCLUSIONThe concept of genetic testing to prove Native American ancestry is one that is discussed more frequently in recent times, but there are many problems with the idea. Perhaps foremost of these problems is that to make a genetic test the arbiter of whether someone is Native American or not is to give up tribal sovereign ability to determine membership and relations. But even taken on their own scientific terms, the tests cannot do much to identify who is and who is not Native American. This is because they yield many false negatives and false positives (they readily misidentify non-Native people as Native, and misidentify Native people as non-Native), and the positive results they do yield at best are only probabilities, not certainties. If these were medical diagnostic tests, they would never be approved or adopted.

But the most important argument against this type of testing to establish tribal affiliations is that biology (and genetics) track just part of our tribal inheritance. These DNA tests treat Native American biology as though all Indians were essentially the same. But in reality, our traditions make us who we are, not just our biology.

The Future?

A new study finds a genetic link for many Native people in North America with certain populations in Siberia. University of Michigan genetics professor Noah Rosenberg was a principal author of the study. He says a distinct genetic variant was found in 422 individuals from 24 Native groups in North, Central and South America that has not been seen anywhere else in the world except for 2 populations in eastern Siberia.

Native American Position

Have been here “forever”

Emerged from earth or were dropped down from sky by creator (or other forms of creation)

Bering Strait is a White Man’s myth

All human remains predating Europeans are Native American

Uto-AztecanLanguage Family

Dene - Diné

Why yes, yes I am!Why yes, yes I am!

Lori Piestewa

John HarringtonJohn HarringtonRobbie Robinson