While i very much welcome the input of traditional peoples to this site, i'd like to see a wider debate on the subjects raised. Living folk-memory can be revealing and significant, but not accepted uncritically. Tribal peoples have sometimes been accused of suppressing the archaeological evidence in order to establish Land Rights. Land Rights are a legitimate aspiration for tribes but that is a political struggle, not a scientifc archaeological one. To quote: "The People have always lived on Turtle Island since Creation". Calling the inheritors of a folk-tradition "Indiginous Americans" is a moot point - the Bering land-bridge can no longer be regarded as the only access to the american continent available to ancient peoples.
I think the current operation of European-derived ownership laws in America is not serving anyone justly. The apparent need for primacy of occupation invites the distortion of the archaeological record for legalistic ends, and may to some mistaken minds 'outlaw' evidence of ancient Polynesian or African or (shudder) European visitors, should any arise. (Remember the difficulty accepting the Viking finds in Newfoundland only a few decades ago.) The extent of 'BronzeAge' sea travel is now being reassessed.
Any contribution is to be welcomed that opens debate, but does not close it. I'd like to see slogans avoided, and a recognition of how controversial American archaeology has become.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road