The issue of how Tribal Nations are treated (the term used in the book is Indians, but I think that's been updated these days) remains highly relevant, and to it has been added the same questions about Blacks and other groups in our country. Indians of North America - Ethnic identity.Even though this book is more than 20 years old, it feels contemporary. Indians of North America - Antiquities - Collection and preservation.Īnthropology - United States - History. From Thomas Jefferson's invention of scientific archaeology to the brutal massacres in which skulls of Indian warriors were sent east to build museum collections from the strange fates of Ishi and Qisuk to the astonishing power of oral tradition in preserving centuries-old memories, this book tells what really went on between archaeologists and Indians-and shows how the two groups can work together in the future.'-Back cover. 'In 'Skull Wars,' renowned archaeologist David Hurst Thomas traces the five-hundred-year roots of the Kennewick Man controversy.

Tribal affiliation and sovereignty - Speaking of oral tradition - An archaeology without alienation. Legislating the skull wars - Bridging the chasm. 'Be an Indian and keep cool' - An Indian new deal: from absolute deprivation to mere poverty - The red power of Vine Deloria, Jr. Origin myths from mainstream America - The Smithsonian takes on all comers - Where are all the Native American archaeologists? - Breakthrough at Folsom - Busting the Clovis Barrier - What modern archaeologists think about the earliest Americans - The Indians refuse to vanish.

The first American archaeologist - A short history of scientific racism in America - Darwin and the disappearing American Indian - The great American skull wars - The anthropology of assimilation - The anthropologist as hero - Collecting your fossils alive - Is 'real history' embedded in oral tradition? - The perilous idea of race - Deep American history. Columbus, Arawaks, and Caribs: the power to name - A vanishing American icon - Nineteenth-century scientists. Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-317) and index.

Skull Wars by David Hurst Thomas