How did lacrosse originate in Native American culture. What is the spiritual significance of lacrosse to Native Americans. Why are traditional wooden lacrosse sticks still used today. How does Native American lacrosse differ from modern versions of the sport. Who are the remaining traditional lacrosse stick makers.
The Origins and Spiritual Significance of Lacrosse in Native American Culture
Lacrosse, known as “The Creator’s Game” among many Native American tribes, holds a profound significance that transcends mere sport. Leon Sam Briggs, an elder of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, emphasizes this point: “It’s not just a game, it’s what we do. It’s who we are and what we believe in.” This statement underscores the deep-rooted connection between lacrosse and Native American identity.
The game originated centuries ago in the St. Lawrence Valley, straddling the border between the United States and Canada. Its creation is attributed to the indigenous peoples of this region, particularly the Iroquois Confederacy. The sport’s spiritual importance is evident in its various rituals and traditions, many of which continue to be practiced today.
The Evolution of Lacrosse Fields and Equipment
In its earliest form, lacrosse was played on expansive fields that could stretch for miles. These natural arenas included trees, streams, and uneven terrain, presenting players with unique challenges. Unlike modern lacrosse, which has clearly defined boundaries, traditional games were often demarcated by spectators – women and children who formed human sidelines.
The equipment used in these early games was equally distinctive. Balls were crafted from hardwood burls, chosen for their resistance to splitting, or made from animal fur encased in deerskin. Some sacred “medicine games” even featured balls containing pieces of a deceased elder’s clothing, a poignant symbol of respect and remembrance.
The Art and Craft of Traditional Wooden Lacrosse Sticks
At the heart of Native American lacrosse tradition lies the wooden lacrosse stick. These are not mere sporting implements but works of art imbued with cultural significance. How are these sticks made? The process is both time-consuming and deeply respectful of nature.
- Material: Hickory wood, referred to as “the mother tree”
- Construction: Hand-carved and custom-bent through steaming
- Duration: 8-12 months to complete a single stick
- Lifespan: Can last up to 100 years with proper care
Leon Sam Briggs, one of only a dozen remaining traditional stick-makers, explains the spiritual aspect of the crafting process: “We bring the sticks to life while also teaching respect for the tree.” This reverence for nature and the materials used is a fundamental aspect of Native American lacrosse tradition.
The Unique Characteristics of Native American Lacrosse
While modern lacrosse has evolved into a standardized sport with fixed rules and equipment, Native American lacrosse retains many of its original characteristics. How does it differ from the game most Americans are familiar with?
Box Lacrosse: A Link to Ancient Traditions
Box lacrosse, the form played by many Native American teams, bears a closer resemblance to the original game. It features:
- A mile-long field with natural obstacles
- Players wearing shorts and moccasins, regardless of weather
- 20-foot high poles with eagle feathers marking the field ends
- Smaller goals (4 feet high compared to modern 6-foot goals)
- Full-contact play with minimal protective equipment
This version of the game demands not only physical prowess but also a deep connection to the land and natural elements, reflecting the holistic worldview of many Native American cultures.
The Spiritual Dimensions of Native American Lacrosse
Lacrosse in Native American culture is more than a sport; it’s a spiritual practice with its own set of beliefs and taboos. One notable aspect is the gendered nature of the game and its equipment.
Females are strictly prohibited from touching male lacrosse sticks. Why? It’s believed that the mixing of male and female “medicine” can negatively impact the stick’s spiritual properties. This belief underscores the complex spiritual framework surrounding the game.
Lacrosse as a Lifelong Journey
In Native American culture, the connection to lacrosse begins at birth and extends beyond death. How is this lifelong affiliation manifested?
- Infancy: Small lacrosse sticks are placed in babies’ cradles
- Youth and Adulthood: Active participation in the game
- Elderhood: Passing on knowledge and traditions
- Afterlife: Continued spiritual connection to the game
This cradle-to-grave relationship with lacrosse emphasizes its integral role in Native American life and spirituality.
The Resilience of Traditional Lacrosse in Modern Times
Despite the prevalence of modern lacrosse equipment, many Native American players continue to use traditional wooden sticks. Why do they persist with these ancient designs in the face of technological advancements?
The answer lies in a combination of cultural preservation, spiritual belief, and proven effectiveness. Leon Sam Briggs proudly states that his 10-year-old hickory stick has “broken 500 aluminum and titanium sticks.” This durability, coupled with the deep cultural significance, ensures the continued relevance of traditional sticks in Native American lacrosse.
The Challenges of Preserving Traditional Stick-Making
With only a dozen traditional stick-makers remaining, the art of crafting wooden lacrosse sticks faces potential extinction. What efforts are being made to preserve this crucial aspect of Native American culture?
- Cultural education programs in Native American communities
- Apprenticeships with master stick-makers
- Documentation of traditional techniques
- Advocacy for the recognition of stick-making as an important cultural practice
These initiatives aim to ensure that future generations can continue to connect with their heritage through the creation and use of traditional lacrosse sticks.
The Impact of Native American Lacrosse on Modern Sport
While Native American lacrosse maintains its distinct traditions, it has also significantly influenced the modern version of the sport. How has this ancient game shaped the lacrosse played around the world today?
- Stick Design: Modern sticks, though made of different materials, still reflect the basic shape and function of traditional wooden sticks
- Playing Style: The fast-paced, physical nature of Native American lacrosse is mirrored in modern versions
- Cultural Awareness: Growing recognition of lacrosse’s Native American roots has led to increased respect for indigenous contributions to the sport
This influence serves as a bridge between ancient traditions and contemporary sport, highlighting the enduring legacy of Native American culture in lacrosse.
The Future of Native American Lacrosse Traditions
As the world of sports continues to evolve, what does the future hold for Native American lacrosse traditions? The challenge lies in balancing cultural preservation with adaptation to modern realities.
Strategies for Cultural Continuity
- Youth Engagement: Encouraging young Native Americans to learn and practice traditional lacrosse
- Cultural Exchange: Sharing Native American lacrosse traditions with wider audiences to foster understanding and appreciation
- Technological Integration: Exploring ways to document and share traditional knowledge using modern tools
- Advocacy: Working with sports organizations to recognize and respect Native American lacrosse traditions
By implementing these strategies, Native American communities aim to ensure that the rich heritage of their lacrosse traditions continues to thrive and inspire future generations.
The Global Significance of Native American Lacrosse Heritage
The story of Native American lacrosse is not just a tale of sporting tradition; it’s a narrative that touches on broader themes of cultural resilience, spiritual connection, and the power of heritage. How does this ancient game speak to global issues of indigenous rights and cultural preservation?
Native American lacrosse serves as a powerful example of how traditional practices can maintain relevance and vitality in the modern world. It demonstrates the importance of respecting and preserving indigenous knowledge and customs, not just for the benefit of Native American communities, but for the enrichment of global cultural diversity.
Lessons from the Creator’s Game
What can the wider world learn from the enduring traditions of Native American lacrosse?
- The value of maintaining connections to ancestral practices
- The importance of respecting and learning from nature
- The power of sport as a vehicle for cultural expression and spiritual practice
- The potential for traditional knowledge to inform and enhance modern practices
As we continue to navigate an increasingly interconnected world, the rich heritage of Native American lacrosse offers valuable insights into the importance of cultural preservation, respect for tradition, and the enduring power of games that are more than just sport.
Tonawanda Seneca Shares the Role of Lacrosse in Native American Life
November 11, 2022
Lacrosse Started on Miles-Long Fields Using Hickory Sticks and Wooden Balls
Lacrosse is known as “The Creator’s Game” to many Native Americans. For them, it takes on almost religious proportions. “It’s not just a game, it’s what we do. It’s who we are and what we believe in.”
Those are the words of Leon Sam Briggs, an elder with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation in upstate New York, where the game was invented centuries ago in the St. Lawrence Valley bordering Canada. He was introduced at WC as an ordained spiritual leader, herbologist, cultural consultant and a master of lacrosse whose lifelong association with the sport dates back to the cradle and when he first picked up a stick in the early 1960s.
PICTURED: Leon Sam Briggs, a Tonawanda Seneca elder, shared his significant knowledge of the origins, traditions and spirituality of lacrosse during a visit to Wilmington College.
He is displaying both a 200-year-old stick and the one he uses featuring a more modern design. Both are made of hickory.
Briggs visited Wilmington College Thursday (Nov. 10) as part of WC’s programming for Native American Heritage Month. He was co-hosted by the Indigenous Students Assn. and Head Coach Garyck Todd’s men’s lacrosse team. The College has been featuring programming highlighting Native American culture throughout November.
Forget about the high-tech aluminum and titanium lacrosse sticks used by most American players today. Native American teams still use sticks fashioned from hickory. They’re hand-carved and custom-bent through a steaming process that takes from eight to 12 months.
“We bring the sticks to life while also teaching respect for the tree,” Briggs said, noting that it’s not unusual for a hickory lacrosse stick to last as long as 100 years. Indeed, his current stick is 10 years old and maintains a special history of sport dominance. “This stick has broken 500 aluminum and titanium sticks,” he said.
Briggs plays in a masters league with teammates ranging in age from 55 to 82 years old. “Guys your age hate it when a 67-year-old runs circles around them,” he said to the WC lacrosse players in the audience.
The design of Briggs’ stick essentially hasn’t changed in the past 150 years — and resembles today’s modern sticks albeit their metal composition. He said only a dozen traditional stick-makers remain — and he is one of them. He brought a 200-year-old stick with the circular basket style that was popular centuries ago. Of course, it’s hickory — “the mother tree” — and it features a basket with five strings representing five tribal affiliations.
In the 1600s, a French Jesuit missionary noticed the lacrosse strings forming the shape of a cross and reported to Paris the Native Americans play a game called “the cross,” or in French, “lacrosse.” Then lacrosse fields were often miles long and hundreds of men and boys played on courses laden with trees, streams and uneven terrain. There were few fixed field perimeters like the sidelines and end lines we know in today’s game.
Rather, boundaries were literally lines of the women and children spectators.
Balls were hardwood burls — ideal for its resistance to splitting and capable of traveling up to 135 miles per hour — or composed of animal fur stuffed inside a deerskin cover. Certain sacred “medicine games” featured balls with pieces of a deceased elder’s clothing inside, which represented a sign of respect.
Females are prohibited from touching males’ lacrosse sticks, as the mixing of male and female “medicine” can have a negative effect on the instrument’s spirituality. Indeed, females in Briggs’ WC audience were not allowed to handle the sticks he passed around only to the men.
Briggs plays a form of lacrosse that’s a bit different from the typical “field lacrosse” Americans know. “Box lacrosse” is based on the original game and is played on a mile-long field — yes, with trees and other obstacles — with men wearing shorts and moccasins in all kinds of weather. A 20-foot high pole emblazoned with an eagle feather stands at each end of the field of play, where goals are four feet high, significantly smaller than modern 6-foot goals.
It’s also full contact with few holds barred unlike the modern men’s game, which is plenty physical but with safety limitations. The Native teams wear pads similar to baseball catcher chest protectors and the goalkeeper wears a helmet. Briggs recalled playing in the 1960s stuffing J.C. Penney catalogs into a pair of hockey pants for padding.
He said the Native American word for lacrosse means “bumping hips/we break at the hips.”
Lifelong affiliation with lacrosse begins with small sticks placed in infants’ cradles and lasts even into the afterlife, as one’s stick is the only artifact buried with the deceased.
Briggs has 14 nephews playing in professional lacrosse leagues, including Lyle Thompson, who is recognized as among the best in the world. So good are these players from indigenous populations that Native teams have played the U.S. Olympic lacrosse teams 68 times — and have never been beaten. In addition, Briggs’ masters team has never lost to a collegiate lacrosse team.
“We believe that while we’re playing lacrosse our ancestors up in the sky world are playing at the same time,” Briggs said, noting the game to them is much more than simply picking up a ball and stick and playing.
He left the Wilmington College players with the message: “Remember where lacrosse comes from and give back to the game, to the young players coming up.”
That’s good medicine!
Lacrosse stick-maker discusses heritage | The Ithacan
News
By The Ithacan
Published: November 20, 2013
To conclude its celebration of Native American Heritage Month, the Ithaca College anthropology department and the Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs hosted Alf Jacques to speak before a screening of the movie “Crooked Arrows” on Nov. 19 in Klingenstein Lounge.
Jacques, 64, is a member of the Onondaga Nation, and he has made wooden lacrosse sticks for more than 50 years. He was a cultural consultant on the set of “Crooked Arrows,” which tells the story of a coach who leads a Native American high school team on an uphill journey to the state lacrosse championship game.
Jacques was a former goalie for the professional indoor lacrosse squad the Syracuse Sting and has been a coach and general manager for multiple Onondaga Nation squads, which play with wooden sticks.
Steve Derderian, assistant sports editor, sat down with Jacques to discuss the movie, his lacrosse stick–making career and the Native American version of lacrosse.
Steve Derderian: How did you get involved with this screening process?
Alf Jacques: This all started when [“Crooked Arrows” co-producer Neal Powless] came to visit me. He saw what I was doing and thought it was unbelievable. They loved the history, the culture and tradition at Onondaga Nation and the sticks especially. I always go back to talking about this stick then and now. But today’s sticks are plastic with titanium handles. But they loved it.
SD: What specifically was your involvement with the movie?
AJ: All the handles that go into the plastic were made by me. When you see [the actors] running through the woods playing the game, a lot of those sticks were mine that they rented from me.
I was also on the set as a cultural consultant. They actually changed the script to accommodate the Onondaga people and the traditional native people. When I came back from the shoot, people were asking me what it was like. I said, “You’re going to like stuff, and you’re going to hate stuff,” and that’s exactly what happened because it’s Hollywood. If we wanted our story our way, it would be a documentary and not a Hollywood movie.
SD: What are some of the differences in the Native American approach to the game compared to the modern game?
AJ: At Onondaga, we play our traditional game our way, our stick, our rules, our ball, without any input from Baltimore or any of the non-Native rulemaking people. It’s always a wooden stick. You don’t play with plastic, that’s just not done. You’re supposed to play this game as hard as you can, you run as fast as you can, you hit as hard as you can, but it’s not about hurting anybody; it’s about playing the game to the best of your abilities.
On the field, there’s no center line, there’s no faceoff circle, restraining line, crease, endline, sideline or out of bounds in our game.
SD: Your father taught you to make wooden lacrosse sticks when you were a teenager, but do you have an apprentice or somebody you’re teaching to make these sticks?
AJ: I’ve looked for apprentices for a long time. I’ve gone the longest time without having a true apprentice who stuck with me long enough to get something done, and that’s a long time — 25, 30 years. I did train a couple people who made one or two sticks, but they didn’t stick with it. Bottom line, there’s a lot more work to this than people realize.
SD: When done right, how long does the process take to make one stick?
AJ: Eight months per stick. You don’t make one at a time, you make them in groups.
SD: Do you have any sticks on display in museums?
AJ: I have a stick in the Iroquois Indian Museum near Cobleskill.
I have another stick in the governor’s collection in the New York State Museum in Albany, and I have a stick display from a split cut bent finished in Baltimore where they create all the rules in that museum there.
SD: So how much longer do you plan on making these sticks?
AJ: As long as I can. The apprentices are coming up. I’m going to make sure they can do it before I stop. I’m going to ease back, and I can’t physically do what I used to when I was younger. That’s just obvious. The numbers will dwindle down. I won’t be making a whole lot of them, I’ll just make less and less. Then the price will go up.
Russia is the birthplace of the Indians. Native Americans turned out to be Siberians
https://ria.ru/20200628/1573537120.html
Russia is the birthplace of the Indians. Native Americans turned out to be Siberians
Russia is the birthplace of the Indians. Native Americans turned out to be Siberians – RIA Novosti, 06/28/2020 Native Americans turned out to be Siberians
An international group of archaeologists and paleogeneticists, comparing the DNA of the prehistoric inhabitants of Lake Baikal and Native Americans, found that they are relatives.
Judging by … RIA Novosti, 06/28/2020 9Finland 9000
2020-06-28T08:00
2020-06-28T08:00
2020-06-28T08:00 3
University of Copenhagen
discoveries – ria science
eurasia
biology
dna
genome
/html/head/meta[@name=’og:title’]/@con tent
/html/head/meta[@name=’og:description’]/@content
faa02cfdab08022fe28db5.jpg
MOSCOW, June 28 – RIA Novosti, Alfiya Enikeeva. An international group of archaeologists and paleogeneticists, comparing the DNA of the prehistoric inhabitants of Lake Baikal and Native Americans, found that they are relatives. Apparently, several tens of thousands of years ago, a large community of people developed in Siberia, which could pass on its genome to many modern peoples, including Indians and Russians. Originally from Siberia Genetic evidence for a long-standing hypothesis about the Siberian origin of the inhabitants of North and South America appeared in 2015. A team of scientists analyzed the genomes of 31 representatives of the indigenous peoples of America, Siberia and Oceania and compared them with each other.
In addition, the researchers compared the data obtained with the results of deciphering ancient DNA extracted from fossil remains – skeletons and mummies. In total, the authors of the work studied more than three thousand human genomes from 169populations, both ancient and modern. And they not only confirmed the relationship of prehistoric Siberians and Indians, but also determined the approximate route along which they migrated from the north of Eurasia to the American continent. The ancestors of the Indians who inhabit both Americas today most likely left their historical homeland about 23 thousand years ago. It is believed that they moved through the Bering Strait along the land isthmus, which periodically formed during the last glacial maximum. For about eight millennia, part of the settlers lingered in Kamchatka, and the population divided into different branches already in North America. In addition, the researchers found a weak infusion of genes from the peoples of Oceania: apparently, this happened after the main wave of migration, although it is not yet clear how exactly.
The vicissitudes of migration The data of the genetic study in 2015 are consistent with archaeological finds, judging by which, 13 thousand years ago, the Clovis culture was developed in North America. In 2019th team of scientists led by Eske Willerslev from the University of Copenhagen analyzed the DNA of 34 ancient Siberians, including two boys, whose remains of 31.6 thousand years old were found in Yakutia near the Yana River. For 30 millennia, three major migrations from south to north took place in Siberia. The boys from the Yana River are representatives of a previously unknown group of ancient inhabitants of these places. They are 71 percent similar to the inhabitants of Western Eurasia, from which they probably separated about 38 thousand years ago. Remaining 29percent of the genetic inheritance, Yang children received from the peoples of East Asia. The authors of the work believe that this is how the genetic lines of North American Indians and Paleo-Siberians were formed. Approximately 18-20 thousand years ago, the descendants of the inhabitants of Northern Siberia and immigrants from East Asia mixed with each other.
And after several millennia, they moved through the Bering Strait towards the American continent. Those who remained in their homeland were forced out by the so-called neo-Siberians. Their closest relatives are modern Evens. And already about five thousand years ago, nomads from the steppes of Central Asia came to Northeastern Siberia and assimilated with the local population. Similar data were obtained by researchers led by David Reich from Harvard Medical School. They studied the genomes of 48 people who lived from seven thousand to 280 years ago in Eastern Siberia, Chukotka and the Aleutian Islands, in the Canadian Arctic and Alaska, after which they conducted a comparative DNA analysis with the Inuit and Inupiat – the modern indigenous inhabitants of the northernmost state of the United States – and representatives of small peoples of Western Siberia. As it turned out, the ancient inhabitants of the Siberian northeast are the result of a mixture of Paleo-Siberians and population East Asia.
Later, speakers of the Chukchi-Kamchatka languages and Paleo-Eskimos descended from them, whose genetic traces the authors of the work found in the DNA of modern Inuit and Indians. On the shores of Baikal At the end of May, an article by another international group of scientists was published in the scientific journal Cell. In their opinion, the population of the direct ancestors of the North American Indians was formed not in Northeastern Siberia, but in the vicinity of Lake Baikal about 14 thousand years ago, after the mixing of the Far Eastern and Old Siberian peoples. Specialists analyzed the genomes of 19ancient Siberians aged from 14 to 4 millennia. In the oldest material extracted from a tooth found in the Ust-Kyakhta-3 cave south of Lake Baikal, they found components indicating kinship with Native Americans – similar ones were detected in the DNA of northeastern Siberians who lived several thousand years later. The authors of the work believe that carriers of at least two genomes mixed in the vicinity of Baikal – ancient North Eurasian and Northeast Asian.
The first is associated with the cultures of the early Bronze Age, the second – with the Neolithic. In addition, in the remains of about four thousand years old, experts found traces of the plague bacillus Yersinia pestis. Genetically, it is close to a bacterium previously discovered in an inhabitant of the opposite part of Eurasia – the Baltic region. So, already in prehistoric times, people maintained contacts over long distances.
https://ria.ru/201
/1550172091.html
https://ria.ru/20140518/1008281271.html
https://ria.ru/20120711/697208284.html
Finland
Eurasia
Chukotka
RIA Novosti
1
5
4.7
96
7 495 645-6601
Rossiya Segodnya
https://xn--c1acbl2abdlkab1og.xn--p1ai/awards/
2020
RIA Novosti
1
5
4.7
96
7 495 645-6601 90 Russia Today
https://xn--c1acbl2abdlkab1og.
xn--p1ai/
RIA Novosti
1
5
4.7
96
7 495 645-6601
Rossiya Segodnya
https://xn--c1acbl2abdlkab1og.xn--p1ai/awards/
19 20
1080
true
1920
1440
true
https://cdnn21.img.ria.ru/images/155286/49/1552
1920
1920
true
90 002 RIA Novosti
1
5
4.7
96
7 495 645-6601
Rossiya Segodnya 90 003
https://xn--c1acbl2abdlkab1og.xn--p1ai/awards/
RIA Novosti
1
5
4.7
96
9000 2 [email protected]
7 495 645-6601
Rossiya Segodnya
https://xn--c1acbl2abdlkab1og.xn--p1ai/awards/
Finland, University of Copenhagen, discoveries – ria science, Eurasia, biology, dna, genome, Indians, Chukotka, archeology 2 MOSCOW, June 28 – RIA Novosti, Alfiya Enikeeva.
An international group of archaeologists and paleogeneticists, comparing the DNA of the prehistoric inhabitants of Lake Baikal and Native Americans, found that they are relatives. Apparently, several tens of thousands of years ago, a large community of people developed in Siberia, which could pass on its genome to many modern peoples, including Indians and Russians.
Originally from Siberia
Genetic evidence for the long-standing hypothesis of a Siberian origin for the inhabitants of North and South America appeared in 2015. A team of scientists analyzed the genomes of 31 representatives of the indigenous peoples of America, Siberia and Oceania and compared them with each other. In addition, the researchers compared the data obtained with the results of deciphering ancient DNA extracted from fossil remains – skeletons and mummies.
In total, the authors of the work studied more than three thousand human genomes from 169populations, both ancient and modern.
And they not only confirmed the relationship of prehistoric Siberians and Indians, but also determined the approximate route along which they migrated from the north of Eurasia to the American continent.
Scientists have solved the mystery of the appearance of ancient people in Siberia
January 31, 2019, 10:32
The ancestors of the Indians who inhabit both Americas today most likely left their historical homeland about 23 thousand years ago. It is believed that they moved through the Bering Strait along the land isthmus, which periodically formed during the last glacial maximum. For about eight millennia, part of the settlers lingered in Kamchatka, and the population divided into different branches already in North America. In addition, the researchers found a weak infusion of genes from the peoples of Oceania: apparently, this happened after the main wave of migration – though how exactly is still unclear.
The vicissitudes of migrations
The data of the 2015 genetic study are consistent with archaeological finds, judging by which, 13 thousand years ago, the Clovis culture was developed in North America.
In 2019, a team of scientists led by Eske Willerslev from the University of Copenhagen analyzed the DNA of 34 ancient Siberians, including two boys, whose remains, 31,600 years old, were found in Yakutia near the Yana River.
Other genomes studied belonged to people living from 9800 to six hundred years ago in the territory of modern Chukotka, in the Primorsky Territory, near Lake Baikal and in southwestern Finland.
Scientists have confirmed that the ancestors of the Indians came from Siberia
May 18, 2014, 17:44
Analysis of the data showed that three major migrations from south to north have occurred in Siberia over the past 30 millennia. The boys from the Yana River are representatives of a previously unknown group of ancient inhabitants of these places. They are 71 percent similar to the inhabitants of Western Eurasia, from which they probably separated about 38 thousand years ago. Remaining 29percent of the genetic heritage of Yang children received from the peoples of East Asia.
The authors of the work believe that this is how the genetic lines of North American Indians and Paleo-Siberians were formed. Approximately 18-20 thousand years ago, the descendants of the inhabitants of Northern Siberia and immigrants from East Asia mixed with each other. And after several millennia, they moved through the Bering Strait towards the American continent.
© RIA Novosti illustration. Maanasa Raghavan et al/2015 Approximate migration routes of Indian ancestors from Siberia to America
© Illustration by RIA Novosti. Maanasa Raghavan et al/2015
Approximate routes of migration of the ancestors of the Indians from Siberia to America
Those who remained in their homeland were forced out by the so-called neo-Siberians. Their closest relatives are modern Evens. And already about five thousand years ago, nomads from the steppes of Central Asia came to North-Eastern Siberia and assimilated with the local population.
Researchers led by David Reich at Harvard Medical School obtained similar data.
They studied the genomes of 48 people who lived from seven thousand to 280 years ago in Eastern Siberia, Chukotka and the Aleutian Islands, in the Canadian Arctic and Alaska , after which they conducted a comparative DNA analysis with the Inuit and Inupiat – modern indigenous people of the northernmost US state – and representatives of small peoples of Western Siberia.
As it turned out, the ancient inhabitants of the Siberian northeast are the result of a mixture of Paleo-Siberians and the population of East Asia. Later, speakers of the Chukchi-Kamchatka languages and Paleo-Eskimos descended from them, whose genetic traces the authors of the work found in the DNA of modern Inuit and Indians.
The ancestors of the Indians moved to America in three waves of migration – scientists
July 11, 2012, 22:06
On the shores of Lake Baikal
At the end of May, an article by another international group of scientists was published in the scientific journal Cell.
In their opinion, the population of the direct ancestors of the North American Indians was formed not in North-Eastern Siberia, but in the vicinity of Lake Baikal about 14 thousand years ago, after the mixing of the Far Eastern and ancient Siberian peoples.
Experts analyzed the genomes of 19ancient Siberians aged from 14 to 4 millennia. In the oldest material extracted from a tooth found in the Ust-Kyakhta-3 cave south of Lake Baikal, components indicating kinship with Native Americans were found – similar ones were detected in the DNA of northeastern Siberians who lived several thousand years later.
© A.P. OkladnikovExcavations in the Republic of Buryatia in 1976 at the Ust-Kyakhta-3 site. Here they found a tooth of a man who lived about 14 thousand years ago. After 40 years, DNA extracted from it will prove that the ancestors of the Indians lived in the vicinity of Lake Baikal
© A. P. Okladnikov
Excavations in the Republic of Buryatia in 1976 at the Ust-Kyakhta-3 site.
