Read “The Ethical Battle Over Ancient DNA” by Michael Balter
Researchers who study the DNA of ancient Native Americans have been learning how to collaborate with American Indian tribes instead of fighting them over ancestral human remains. But a recent case suggests still more sensitivity is needed.A new controversy has arisen over recent scientific analyses conducted on ancient Native American remains that were uncovered in the 1890s at Pueblo Bonito, an archaeological site located in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
“It is clearly ethically problematic to carry out destructive analyses on Indigenous human remains without talking to any Native peoples about it,” says archaeologist Ruth Van Dyke, a Chaco researcher at Binghamton University in upstate New York. “In recent decades, archaeologists have been working hard to build trusting, collaborative relationships with our Indigenous colleagues. Any research that fails to respect Native rights and sensibilities can only undermine this progress.
The American Museum of Natural History seems to have fulfilled its legal responsibilities for the Chaco remains in 2000, but critics argue the institution should have done more.Museum officials declined to elaborate on exactly who they had contacted and how hard they had tried, however. In practice, the law gives institutions a great deal of latitude in how they interpret its requirements.
But the AMNH apparently made little or no attempt to bring its 2000 review up to date. Prior to approving the new DNA research, the museum, according to its own statement, did not revisit the review’s nearly 20-year-old conclusions, nor did it consult with either contemporary Pueblo groups or representatives of the Navajo Nation, which today surrounds the federally protected Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
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