My book, In the Shadow of the Sabertooth, was released last week, and among the many modern controversies it raises is the issue of repatriation of our oldest Native American burial.
In brief, in 1968, just north of the Yellowstone River, workers unearthed about 110 stone and bone artifacts that accompanied a child's burial. The funeral offerings were consecrated with sacred red ochre. These grave offerings constitute the Anzick Burial Site, the largest and most spectacular collection of Clovis tools ever found (the Clovis culture dates about 13,000 years ago). The one and a half year-old child is the oldest skeleton ever found in the Americas and the only known Clovis burial.
In the last decade, archaeologists from all over the world have jetted up to Montana for a piece of the child’s skeleton, which they ship to Denmark for DNA analysis or Colorado (or elsewhere) for carbon-14 dating.
The archaeologists, none of whom have ever contacted a Native American community, contend that the bones are privately owned by the landowner and not subject to Native American Graves and Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) laws. When asked, one says: “To date, we are unaware of claims of affiliation or requests for repatriation made by any Native American group in the 37 years since the Anzick site was discovered.” These same exact tired words have been repeated many times in the past 15 years.
I should mention that the daughter of the landowner and myself have separately tried to contact tribal members of the Cheyenne and Crow nations in the past decade but never heard back.
And how should any Native American group even know of that Clovis find? This site was unnoticed until Outside magazine wrote up re-excavation efforts in 2000. 1968 seems a long time ago. Now, the site is an apparent archaeological gold mine. The child’s story lives on, but it’s time he found an earthly home. This is a matter of simple respect. It's everyone's business.
Please pass this notice on to any Native American who would like to see the child’s remains repatriated.
Download an open letter to share (pdf)
History and details (pdf)
Blog post Respect for the Dead (pdf)
Read The Voices of Bones by Doug Peacock, Outside, February 2000
Learn more about Archeology and Ethics
