This researcher presents a case study about the repatriation claim for two sets of human remains discovered at the University of California, San Diego.\u00a0 The repatriation controversy existed between the Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Committee, which represents twelve federally-recognized Native American tribes.\u00a0 Mayes explores the significant scientific interest in the skeletons by University researchers.\u00a0 He also explains how determining the origins of the remains was vital to determining if they could be classified as Native American.\u00a0 Interestingly, Native American tribes have a variety of cultural beliefs surrounding the treatment of human remains.\u00a0 Some cultures strongly oppose any invasive investigation of a human remain.\u00a0 Other cultures have evolved their cultural beliefs to allow for DNA analysis in order to aid in their repatriation process and provide evidence.\u00a0 The Kumeyaay requested a noninvasive investigation of the remains.\u00a0 Mayes argues that cultural miscommunication between tribal and scientific communities was the key issue in the repatriation of the La Jolla skeletons.\u00a0 Paleoindians and archaic human remains are often classified as culturally unidentifiable which sparks controversy and clashing beliefs between the two sides.\u00a0 He also explains how osteological analysis provides crucial information for determining a skeleton\u2019s origin.\u00a0 He analyzed the physical data of the skeletons and argues how they qualify as Native American.<\/p>\n
I found this case study to be extremely detailed regarding the physical data of the skeletons.\u00a0 He argues from the perspective and expert knowledge of a physical anthropologist with information about forensics and osteology.\u00a0 He used qualitative data that he obtained through reports of the scientific studies of the remains.\u00a0 It was helpful to me to learn more specifics about DNA extraction and the controversy it can pose.\u00a0 It was interesting to consider how some tribes desire a human remain to be repatriated, but certain methods for determining cultural affiliation do not align with their customs.<\/p>\n
Mayes, Arion T. \u201cThese Bones Are Read: The Science and Politics of Ancient Native America.\u201d American Indian Quarterly<\/em>, vol. 34, no. 2, 2010, p. 131., doi:10.5250\/amerindiquar.34.2.131.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This researcher presents a case study about the repatriation claim for two sets of human remains discovered at the University of California, San Diego.\u00a0 The repatriation controversy existed between the Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Committee, which represents twelve federally-recognized Native American tribes.\u00a0 Mayes explores the significant scientific interest in the skeletons by University researchers.\u00a0 He also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2322,"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions\/2322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evst399.mcguire-spickard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}