Before you begin , read Edward Rothstein’s article, “Antiquities, The World Is Your Homeland”,  and think carefully about the complicated ownership issues in this case.

Once you have read the article, visit the PBS website about Kennewick man, focusing on the anthropologists’ justifications for studying the remains:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/claim.html 

Debates over human remains and repatriation continue. More recently, additional human remains possessed by the University of California, San Diego, have been the center of a custody battle similar to that of the Kennewick Man. Review the basics of the dispute here:

 http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/05/ancient-american-skeletons-safe.html

Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation:

http://www.kumeyaay.info/repatriation/  

• Taking Sides: First, take a side in this controversy by outlining the following: 
  • Who do you think deserves ownership of the remains in each case and why?
  •  What should be done with these remains, and what concessions would this require the scientific community and/or the tribes to make? 
  • Respond to your classmates’ posts and work together with them, as a class, to come up with some compromises to this issue. 
• Learning from our mistakes: Without question, similar problems will be faced in the future as scientific exploration continues, and remains are likely to be found. Although the scientific method provides us with a framework for how to conduct our research using the remains, it does not take into account the ethics of scientific research. What are some additional criteria you could add to the scientific method in order to ensure that research is conducted in a moral and ethical way? Provide an example of an area of research/science that requires a code of ethics when suggesting your modifications to the scientific method.