Children's Literature Blog: Their Skeletons Speak

Their Skeletons Speak: Kennewick Man and the Paleoamerican World

Written by Sally M. Walker and Douglas W. Owsley

Carolrhoda Books, 2012

SUMMARY:

The amazing thing about Kennewick Man’s story is that the more people who participate, the better it gets. When artists, scientists, dentists, teachers, doctors, and even you discover his story and remember him, Kennewick Man’s legacy grows.” After exploring history in last year’s Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917, Sally Walker returns to forensic anthropology and the discoveries that interdisciplinary teams working over time can achieve. Writing the book with Douglas Owsley of the Smithsonian Institute, and a key scientist researching Kennewick Man, Walker presents middle grade readers with an extraordinary window into our Paleoamerican past. The narrative is chronological, from Kennewick Man’s discovery in 1996, to his legal entanglement and literal storage, to the latest discoveries as the book went to print. Within that chronology, however, Walker enters and re-enters past and present, using research on other Paleoamericans to help her readers understand Kennewick Man’s story, and clarifying the ways in which advanced science has allowed research that couldn’t have been conducted when he was originally located, demonstrating to all that we must “allow room for future revisions,” as is the nature of scientific discovery. She pays tribute to our some of our (perhaps) earliest North American ancestors, and reminds us that “[w]hen their skeletons speak, it is fitting that we, the modern caretakers, should listen. Their stories are the human connections that makes them part of the present and us part of the past. It is the human connection that will carry all of us into the future.”

GENRE: Nonfiction

Motivational Activities: In an interdisciplinary language arts-science research project, have students read one of the books. Next, have them explore some of the latest research that did not have a chance to get incorporated into the texts (see Further Explorations). Locate several scientists working locally in your area. They might have an affiliation with a research organization, hospital, university, a state agency, or a manufacturing company. Have teams of students working with teams of researchers over the course of a trimester, semester, or year, documenting their research. To do so, students will have to conduct background research to get “up to speed.” At the end of the designated period of time, have each team of students write a digital magazine or create a video or podcast to share with the community. If it’s possible to pair your teams of students and scientists with teams of undergraduates studying in the same field, you will have an even richer research partnership. For a less ambitious (and time-consuming!) venture, invite a panel of local scientists to come and talk about their work, and have students work in teams to write share the research with the broader community in some capacity, such as a story on the school webpage or a podcast recording.

Discussion Questions: How do Lee Berger and Doug Owsley serve as mentor scientists?

How do Marc Aronson and Sally Walker capture the practices and concepts at work and the core facts of the discipline that the scientists draw upon?

What can they do to make a difference in your community?

What local research can you take part in, even if it is unconnected to forensic anthropology?

Personal Comments: Sally Walker's books are always well done, and this is no exception. I've read a number of books that talk about Kennewick Man/the Ancient One, and I always get derailed by the controversy between scientists and Native American tribes. Fortunately, this book doesn't do that. Yes, it mentions the events and the feelings on both sides, and it does it in a very tasteful way. But mostly it just focuses on what we have learned from studying Kennewick Man. The thing that makes this book most interesting and unique is the connections that are drawn between Kennewick Man and the remains of other Paleoamericans. Sally Walker makes you really think about these remains as the people and individuals that they were. Her research and explanations are always well done, and you can tell how much work she has put in to telling the story. One thing I found fascinating was all of the source notes, which indicate that she frequently interviewed, spoke to, and emailed key scientists and participants to get her data, explanations, and quotations. Another fabulous thing about the book is the prevalence of quality photos which help with scientific explanation, make the stories more real, and make things easier to understand. It is a quality piece of work.

Online Resources

Marc Aronson

www.marcaronson.com

Sally Walker

http://www.sallymwalker.com/

Lee Berger

http://profleeberger.com/

Malapa Research Page: http://profleeberger.com/Malapamainpage.html

Next Generation Science Standards

http://www.nextgenscience.org/

Scimania, Marc & Lee’s Webpage

http://www.scimania.org/index.html