Native Americans

DNA analysis of skulls found in Baja California that belonged to an extinct tribe called the Pericues reveal that the Pericues likely were not related to Native Americans and that they probably predated Native Americans in settling the Americas, according to an announcement Monday. The finding, released at the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA) Festival of Science in Exeter, England, adds support to the theory that a number of groups arrived in the Americas via different routes and at varying times, possibly as early as 25,000 years ago. The study also suggests that the two oldest known Americans — Peñon woman andKennewick Man — might have belonged to the Pericues tribe.

Even before the DNA analysis, Silvia Gonzalez, lead author of the study and a geoarchaeologist from Liverpool John Moores University, noticed that the Pericues skulls were long and narrow, as opposed to the more broad and round features found in early Native American skulls. "Because of their skull morphology, long and narrow (dolicocephalic) the Pericues could be related to the oldest Americans known, which are Peñon Woman in the Basin of Mexico at 12,755 before the present, and Kennewick Man at 9,700 years old," Gonzalez told Discovery News just before Monday’s announcement. "Hence, if this was true, they would be older than the Native Indians. The oldestdated Pericue material is only 3,000 years before the present, although there are cave paintings in Baja California dated to 7,500 BP and Clovis points that must be 11,000-11,500 years old."The genetic study suggests that the Pericues did not originate in Northern Asia, where many experts believe Native Americans first came from. Instead, Gonzalez said the Pericues are closer to the ancient populations of southern Asia, Australia, and the South Pacific Rim. The surprising link to early Australasian-Melanesian people could mean that the first Americans arrived in the New World in some kind of floating craft that traveled over the Pacific Ocean."A coastal Pacific migration route is possible," Gonzalez said.She explainedthat. ...

Some of Utah's Indian leaders are upset that state and federal officials said nothing to them about a canyon filled with nearly untouched ancient settlements, even though the inhabitants could be their ancestors. Officials have known about the string of hundreds of sites in a remote canyon southeast of Salt Lake City since 2002, but tribal leaders found out about it through news reports that began to appear last month. Archaeologists showed reporters part of the area in the Book Cliffs region Wednesday. Patty Timbimboo-Madsen, cultural resources manager for the Northwest Shoshone tribe, characterized the omission as a slight against allAmerican Indians.

"We know our ancestors are out there somewhere. When you find them, out of respect, let the native people go in and do ceremonies because you have disturbed something that we think is sacred," she said Thursday. Forrest Cuch, director of Utah's Division of Indian Affairs and a Ute Indian, said the remains found at the site, some wrapped in beaver skin and cedar plank, could be his ancestors. His tribe's reservation is the closest to Range Creek, where the sites were found. The Utes, along with the Skull Valley band of Goshutes and the Pauites, have claimed to be descended from the Fremont people, who inhabited the region before vanishing about 1,000 years ago."I'm not surprised we weren'tconsulted or that there's thousands of human remains," Cuch said, adding that the state's Native American Remains Review Committee ultimately will determine what happens to Range Creek's human remains.State archaeologist Kevin Jones said American Indians haven't been notified because archaeologists haven't started digging for artifacts or human remains. He said he planned to notify tribes when that as-yet-unscheduled work begins.The settlements were kept secret for more than 50 years by a rancher who turned his land over for public ownership and retired. For the past two summers, archaeologists and students have searched the surface of Range Creek canyon and found a host of artifacts.Archaeologists have saidradiocarbon. ...

There are many mysterious things in the history of wars between white people and Indians in America.Many times Indian heroes marvelously stayed alive in dangerous situations, although there was no chance for them to survive.1865. The battle on the Powder river. According to Indian chronicles, the chief of Cheienn tribe Roman Nose behave very strange, "During the battle he was slowly riding a horse in front of the line of the white people. The soldiers fired at him, but all the bullets missed. He was wearing a sacred headgear having magic power". June 25, 1876. Indian of the Siu tribe Iron Hawk described the crushing defeat of 7th cavalryregiment, "We had very brave Cheienn.

He was wearing a headgear from the feathers of the spotty eagle, spotty cloak from some animals skin and parti-colored belt. He rode his horse to the hill, we followed him at some distance. The soldiers were standing along the hill. They were holding their horses by the bridles. The Cheienn approached the soldiers very closely, and they were constantly firing at him. When the Cheienn came back to us, he untied his belt, and the bullets fell down from it. The sacred force protected this well-built warrior, and for this reason the soldier were unable to do harm to him".Five months later, on November 25, 1876, the warriors of the Cheienn tribe led by chief Blunt Knife were attacked by 4th cavalry regiment of colonel Ronald McKensey and hadto leave their camp. The Indians took cover in the canyon near the Powder river. For the whole day the soldiers fired at Indians, but with no success as the Indians were hiding behind the stones. Suddenly an old Indian came out on the open hill and started smoking a pipe. The American soldiers who had already lost hope to win, cheered up and started firing at the old Indian. No result. Soon another Indian joined the old man. The two men smoked their pipes to the end and then left. They were not even injured.

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Archaeologists led reporters into a remote canyon Wednesday to reveal an almost perfectly preserved picture of ancient life: stone pit houses, granaries and a bounty of artifacts kept secret for more than a half-century. Hundreds of sites on a private ranch turned over to the state offer some of the best evidence of the little-understood Fremont culture, hunter-gatherers and farmers who lived mostly within the present-day borders of Utah. Hundreds of rock art panels are scattered across the canyon along Range Creek, some colored in red, white, yellow, black and peach. On one panel, the ancient inhabitants etched spirals and human figures withminiature hands among animal figures.

“Many other places in the West have rock art panels, but hardly one of them doesn’t have someone’s name scratched across it. That’s what makes this place so unique,” Utah state archaeologist Kevin Jones said. Archaeologists said the villages were occupied more than 1,000 years ago, and may be as old as 4,500 years. A caravan of news organizations traveled for two hours from the mining town of East Carbon City, over a serpentine thriller of a dirt road that topped an 8,200-foot mountain before dropping into the narrow canyon in Utah’s Book Cliffs region. Officials kept known burial sites and human remains out of view of reporters and cameras, but within a single square mile of verdant meadows,archaeologists showed off one village site and said there were five more, where arrowheads, pottery shards and other artifacts can still be found lying on the ground. Archaeologists said the occupation sites, which include granaries full of grass seed and corn, offer an unspoiled slice of life of the ancestors of modern American Indian tribes. The settlements are scattered along 12 miles of Range Creek and up side canyons.“We’ve documented about 225 sites, and it’s just scratching the surface,” Utah state archaeologist Kevin Jones said. “There are hundreds of other sites.”Hundreds of granaries, ranging from cupboard-sized to several yards across, are in some cases hundreds of feet up nearly inaccessible cliffs. They offer evidence, Jonessaid, that the people. ...