All the sites that have been adequately sampled and dated yield bifacial as well as unifacial tools. Both authors try to make sense of the current heated debate about the biological origins of the first Americans, a debate with political and racial overtones. They suggest that the very first New World peoples were of European origin and that modern-day Native Americans descend principally from later waves of migrants from Asia. However, this cranial shape and the relevant tool traits are found in Asia as well. Citing studies of teeth, Dixon rightly points to maritime northeastern Asia rather than to Europe for the origin of Paleoindians.
All modern groups differ significantly from their distant ancestors.
With more precise studies, the cultural and biological links of living Native Americans to the Paleoindians are becoming clearer. Although some groups, such as the Umatilla in Washington State, want to prevent future research on Paleoindians, members of other groups, such as the Tlingit, welcome the new information about their predecessors. From my own experience with Paleoindian archaeology, I'd say that present-day Native Americans have much to gain, and nothing to fear, from continuing research. Anna Curtenius Roosevelt is a professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and the curator of archaeology at the Field Museum of Natural History. This 1877 war is perhaps best known for Chief Joseph's moving surrender speech.