Letters The Fate Of Kennewick Man Thank you for the excellent News article “U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Determines Kennewick Man Is Native American” (Summer 2016). Yesterday I sent a letter to The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicating my concern over the possibility of releasing these remains for secret burial. I, of course, had no knowledge that the Corps, along with Senators Barbara Boxer and James Inhofe, was planning to circumvent the federal appeals court decision that allowed the remains to continue to be studied by qualified professionals. I think this is a real tragedy. I want to thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have also written Boxer and included a copy of the letter I sent to the Corps. I also intend to write the Union of Concerned Scientists and ask them to get involved. James L. Boone Portland, Oregon
Enlightening Maps At first glance I thought the map in the article “Searching For Etzanoa” (Spring 2016) looked familiar. Sure enough, I had seen it in Mark Warhus’ very fine book Another America: Native American Maps and the History of Our Land. Warhus includes 80 maps and thoughtful commentary about how each came to be, and how all of them enlighten and enrich broader historic themes. Warhus says it is the oldest recorded Native American map and he discusses its historical context in detail. I was pleased to learn from the American Archaeology article how recent archeological discoveries and translations provided new ideas and insights into this community. I look forward to subsequent articles. Richard Reid Salem, Oregon
American Archaeology welcomes your letters. Write to us at 1717 Girard Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, or send us e-mail at tacmag@nm.net. We reserve the right to edit and publish letters in the magazine’s Letters department as space permits. Please include your name, address, and telephone number with all correspondence, including e-mail messages.
american archaeology
Editor’s Corner In 1585, more than twenty years before the establishment of Jamestown, Sir Walter Raleigh dispatched 107 men to what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina to explore the area and construct a fort. The men established the first English settlement in the New World. But being a New World colonist was, as you might imagine, one of life’s more challenging occupations. Nine months into their jobs, beset by various problems, the men quit, catching a ride back to England with Sir Francis Drake. The original colonists were succeeded by another group—118 men, women, and children—in 1587. This attempt was not only short lived, but shrouded in mystery. The colony failed, the colonists disappeared. The whys and wherefores are to this day unknown. In our feature “Looking For The Lost Colony,” (see page 36), we tell of the longstanding efforts to solve this great mystery. The First Colony Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on understanding North Carolina’s, and America’s, beginnings through archaeological and historical research. Much of their work is devoted to finding the Lost Colony. The FCF has assembled a team of researchers that investigates archaeological sites and scrutinizes historical texts in search of clues. The archaeologists, for their part, have been excavating Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island, as well as other places in the region. They’ve uncovered traces of the colonists on the island and inland, but for now the centuries-long mystery remains unsolved.
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