BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — On a bluff overlooking a sweep of
Southern California beach, scientists in 1976 unearthed what
were among the oldest skeletal remains ever found in the Western
Hemisphere. Researchers would come to herald the bones — dating
back nearly 10,000 years — as a potential treasure trove for
understanding the earliest human history of the continental
United States. But a local tribal group called the Kumeyaay
Nation claimed that the bones, representing at least two people,
were their ancestors and demanded them back several years ago.
For decades, fights like this over the provenance and treatment
of human bones have played out across the nation. Yet new
federal protections could mean that the vast majority of the
remains of an estimated 160,000 Native Americans held by
universities, museums and federal government agencies, including
those sought by the Kumeyaay, may soon be transferred to tribes.
A recent federal regulation addresses what should happen to any
remains that cannot be positively