any reservation. Given the absence of any other national pohticalrnorganization run by and for Native Americans, manyrnobservers believe that—at least for the moment—pan-hidianrnnationalism is a dead cause. They may be right; certainly thernstruggles now taking place among Indian nations themselvesrnsuggest that larger alliances are unlikely, as Navajos contendrnwith Hopis over land and grazing rights, as Sioux and Crows recapitulaterncenturies-old enmities over territorial claims, as Klamathsrnand Yuroks contest fishing grounds. But small signs likernthe new Ghost Dance suggest that such a movement, whetherrnled by AIM or not, is only dormant. All that is required for it tornawaken is the emergence of a common threat or two.rnOne possible catalyst is a scientific controversy that, like thernGhost Dance, has received little public attention. In July 1996,rntwo hikers discovered the remains of what appeared to be arnwhite male in a gravel bed along the Columbia River outside ofrnKennewick, Washington, on land administered by the U.S.rnArmy Corps of Engineers. Forensic scientists judged the wellpreservedrnskeleton to be 9,300 years old, and archaeologists interestedrnin the peopling of the New World set about revisingrnthe prehistoric record to accommodate the controversial notionrnthat Caucasoids may have crossed over from Eurasia at thernThe Blindrnby Timothy MurphyrnGunners a decade deadrnwing through my father’s mindrnas he limps out to the blindrnbundled against the wind.rnBy some ancestral codernfathers and sons don’t break,rnwe each carry a loadrnof which we cannot speak.rnHere we commit our deadrnto the unyielding landrnwhere broken windmills creakrnand stricken ganders cry.rnFather, the dog and Irnare learning how to diernwith our feet stuck in the muckrnand our eyes trained on the skv.rnsame time as, or perhaps even earlier than, the descendants ofrntoday’s Indians, who, the theory goes, made their way over thernBering land bridge from northeastern Asia during the last IcernThe scientists were stymied, however, by the leaders of thernUmatilla Indian Nation, under whose tribal jurisdiction thernskeleton’s provenience fell. Invoking the Native AmericanrnGraves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, which allowsrnIndian tribes to claim the remains of their ancestors, thernUmatilla demanded the immediate surrender of the Kennewickrnskeleton. The scientists argued that thev had muchrnwork yet to do in conducting tests that would better identifyrnthe genetic heritage of Kennewick Man. And, they argued, therntentatively dated remains far predated the Umatilla people,rnmeaning that the Umatilla should have no jurisdiction over thernskeleton. They sued to stop the repatriation, and last June thernU.S. Federal District Court in Portland agreed with their argument,rnordering the Corps of Engineers not to release the skeletonrnto the Umatilla. The Umatilla are now appealing the decision,rnand the matter will almost certainly go all the way to thernSupreme Court—which will, archaeologists hope, order a redefinitionrnof the act to limit the access of tribes to aboriginalrnartifacts that predate their cultures.rnWhat does this scientific contro’ersy have to do with thernlarger issue of pan-Indian nationalism? Only this: in introducingrnthe startling possibility that today’s Indians may not be descendedrnfrom America’s first settlers, the scientists may, howeverrnunwittingly, open a new debate over Nati’e Americans’rnmoral claim to the ownership of the New World. The facts ofrnthe matter are far more complicated, as the scientists are quickrnto point out. “Caucasoid,” for instance, does not mean “Caucasian,”rnbut as Douglas Preston explains in a recent article inrnthe New Yorker, there is already talk about the emergence ofrnpan-Indian opposition to the scientists’ findings, oppositionrnthat may take on a we-were-here-first sloganeering aroundrnwhich an AIM-like group could profitably form.rnNative American opposition is in fact forming around recentrncongressional attempts to tax tribal commercial enterprises followingrnthe introduction of highly profitable legal gambling onrnreser’ations throughout the country. This new, fantasticallyrnrich revenue stream caught the attention of two II.S. representatives,rnAsa Hutchinson (R-AK) and Gerald Solomon (R-NY),rnwho separateK’ introduced legislation to tax such tribal incomernbv as much as 3 T percent—a huge hit in the age of welfare reform.rnNeither bill cleared the House Ways and Means Committee,rnand neither would likely have survived a constitutionalrnhearing, inasmuch as the Supreme Court and the Internal RevenuernService alike have repeatedly ruled that American Indianrntribes are not taxable entities; m the same spirit, the federalrngovernment does not tax state revenues from lotteries or gaming.rnStill, Native American activists with whom I have spokenrnfear that some form of the I lutchinson-Solomon bills will eventuallyrnbe passed into law—in which instance national Indian resistancernis likely to be spirited.rn”As soon as they wake up and recognize the fact that the U.S.rngovernment doesn’t respect them as sos’ereign, Indian peoplernwill get down to what the real issues are,” says Uni’ersity of Arizonarnlaw professor Robert Williams. He is certainly right. Thernreal issues are not skeletons, but laws; not death, but taxes; notrnancient insults, but modern troubles. The pan-Indian nationalistrnmovement may well only be sleeping. If something rousesrnit, its Ghost Dance will be heard everywhere. crn20/CHRONICLESrnrnrn