Native American Tribe Case Study

Question 1 The Native American in our group argued that because NAGPRA applies and that the location of the bones indicates Kennewick man could be of Native American ancestry, his bones should be returned to the tribe and reburied after DNA testing is completed in order to show respect to the tribe and their culture. On the other hand, the scientist in our group reasoned that Kennewick man does not actually belong to the tribes because he is not necessarily a part of their heritage as he is more closely related to South and Central American tribes than North American tribes that NAGPRA applies to. Therefore, Kennewick man should remain in the hands of scientists to study the origins of North American populations. In the end, our group agreed to compromise and decided that his bones should be returned to the Native Americans when no more information can currently be obtained from Kennewick man in efforts to please both sides of the battle. While it could be disputed that more knowledge about …show more content…
If testing is not agreed upon, the group said that it should be explained that DNA testing is essential, due to NAGPRA’s affiliation laws, before remains can be claimed by a tribe. Based upon the DNA testing results the group suggested that a time frame of 10-25 years be set to allow research to be conducted to the furthest degree of the technology available at that time. In the chance that multiple tribes claim that the remains are part of their ancestry, the most closely related tribe should receive the remains. Collectively, the group agreed that if many tribes are equally associated with the remains, then a neutral burying ground should be appointed by a council formed by leaders of the tribes to ensure unbiased