| | People today who are only partly descended from those early American Indians are still considered to be American Indians if they maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. However, each Indian tribe or band has its own definitions regarding membership, some based on historical tradition, others based on rules (like blood quanta) imposed by the US Government. | | People today who are only partly descended from those early American Indians are still considered to be American Indians if they maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. However, each Indian tribe or band has its own definitions regarding membership, some based on historical tradition, others based on rules (like blood quanta) imposed by the US Government. |
| − | In 1996 there was a discovery of fragments of a skeleton called the [[Kennewick Man]]. But serious doubts about the authenticity of these remains have resulted in litigation and criticism. Some claimed that [[radiocarbon dating]] supported an age of more than 9000 years.<ref>http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/kennewickman.html</ref> The morphology of the Kennewick Man remains is said to differ from that of present-day Native Americans, suggesting a different ancestry<ref>http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/kennewick.html</ref> but there remains significant controversy about that.<ref name="who" /> | + | In 1996 there was a discovery of fragments of a skeleton called the [[Kennewick Man]]. But serious doubts about the authenticity of these remains have resulted in litigation and criticism. Some claimed that [[radiocarbon dating]] supported an age of more than 9000 years.<ref>http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/kennewickman.html</ref> The morphology of the Kennewick Man remains is said to differ from that of present-day Native Americans, suggesting a different ancestry<ref>http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/kennewick.html</ref> but there remains significant controversy about that. |
| | Despite this controversy, there has been significant evidence that certain Indian tribes do have ties to Asian peoples. For instance, numerous American Indians and Mongolians share a physical trait, known as "shovel tooth" in which the incisor has a distinctive shovel-like shape. According to geneticists, this cannot be a coincidence.<ref>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/Tooth_morphology/adult_variation_morph.htm</ref> Another interesting piece of evidence has to do with skull measurements. According to skull measurements done in 2001 at the University of Michigan, scientists have suggested that Blackfoot, Sioux, and Cherokee Indians may have descended from the ancient, indigenous Jomon people of Japan, and related to the Ainu ethnic minority on the island of Hokkaido.<ref>http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/293/5532/1043a</ref> | | Despite this controversy, there has been significant evidence that certain Indian tribes do have ties to Asian peoples. For instance, numerous American Indians and Mongolians share a physical trait, known as "shovel tooth" in which the incisor has a distinctive shovel-like shape. According to geneticists, this cannot be a coincidence.<ref>http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org/Tooth_morphology/adult_variation_morph.htm</ref> Another interesting piece of evidence has to do with skull measurements. According to skull measurements done in 2001 at the University of Michigan, scientists have suggested that Blackfoot, Sioux, and Cherokee Indians may have descended from the ancient, indigenous Jomon people of Japan, and related to the Ainu ethnic minority on the island of Hokkaido.<ref>http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/293/5532/1043a</ref> |