Researcher delivers 3,000-year-old bone fragment to tribe

A large audience turned out to hear an evolutionary biologist explain the connection between a dime-size piece of 3,000-year-old human bone found in a cave near Wrangell and present-day Alaska Natives, who welcomed the opportunity to return a distant ancestor to her final resting place.

Charlotte Lindqvist, a professor in the department of biological sciences at the University of Buffalo in New York, gave the presentation June 13 at the Nolan Center. The event focused on a bone fragment discovered in a cave on the mainland, across Blake Channel from Wrangell Island. DNA analysis revealed that it belonged to a young woman from 3,000 years ago with a genetic connection to modern-day Tlingit people.

U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Tory Houser said approximately 125 people attended. "It's meaningful to have so many people here," she said. "Whether you are Native Alaskan or if you've lived in Wrangell a long time."

Houser introduced retired Forest Service archaeologist Jane Smith, who provided background on the project which began in 2003 when she and fellow Forest Service archaeologist Gina Esposito joined a professor of paleontology from the University of South Dakota in excavations of remains preserved in various caves in Southeast Alaska. That's when they found the bone fragment.

An examination by Lindqvist in 2018 determined that the bone fragment was from a human. The Forest Service and the scientific community kept in contact with the Wrangell Cooperative Association regarding their findings. Lindqvist presented the item to the WCA earlier in the day, before the public event June 13.

WCA members spoke at the Nolan Center event, including Sandy Churchill, treasurer Frank Churchill Jr. and WCA President Ed Rilatos, who said they appreciated the return of the remains of the young woman, who they named Tatóok yík yées sháawat ("Young Lady in Cave"). "It's historic that the bone was even found," Rilatos added. "We're proud that we're a part of this."

Lindqvist was equally moved. "To me it was very emotional ... to return the remains to the tribe, and I think it's the way it should always be done."

The biologist made a point in her presentation of acknowledging the Tlingit heritage. "They have been stewards of the land since time immemorial and I really thank them for their hospitality," she said.

"I don't usually work on human remains," she said. Initially, she had assumed it was a bone from a bear, as there were many such bones found in the caves. However, further analysis revealed that it was from a female human. "We were very excited about this, because there have been very few discoveries of actual human remains in Southeast Alaska."

Once Lindqvist realized the true nature of their find, she and her team notified the Forest Service and reached out to WCA to ask permission for further studies of the remains. WCA was also asked to provide a name for the woman.

"They gave us their blessing, and we thought, 'Wow, OK, let's try and analyze and learn something from this individual,'" she said. "What can she tell us? We get a direct view into the past in this region. Can she tell us something about the history of human residence and occupancy in this area?"

Since the remains were found in the region now populated by Tlingit, Lindqvist and her team worked to determine if there was any connection between Tatóok yík yées sháawat and Alaska Natives living in the region today. Using new DNA technologies unavailable 20 years earlier they were able to find that genetic connection, which corresponded with the Tlingit oral stories about their ancestors' origins as well as the human prehistory of Southeast Alaska.

"We knew after that, we would, of course, return her remains to the tribe, and that's actually why I'm here."

Lindqvist's primary focus of study is climate history, and examining various species during that history, their origins and habits. "That is really what I'm interested in, and what my work is focused on, is looking into the past and trying to understand where we are today."

Part of her presentation also showed how the excavations provided more information through remains and artifacts about Earth's most recent ice age 26,000 to 19,000 years ago and the subsequent populating of the Americas.

With most of Canada and the northern United States covered by ice sheets thousands of feet thick, contact was cut off between the north and south. "What kind of impact did that have and what really happened when the ice sheets started to melt?" she asked. "What happened with all the animals and plants? Where did they go? Where did they come from and how did we get where we are today?"

Lindqvist said that populating the Americas began when those who would become the first people or Native Americans came across the Beringia land bridge, which had formed between northeastern Siberia and western Alaska. She talked about one theory that as the ice sheets started to melt, an interior, ice-free corridor opened along the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains, allowing for the southern migration of Native Americans, or maybe they traveled by sea. However, increasing evidence suggests that migration could have happened along the Pacific Northwest Coast.