Harvard Professor Confirms Bering Strait Theory Is Not Fact
Simon Moya-Smith
Itās not every day that you get a revered professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School to publicly confirm that the Bering Strait theory is ānot a fact.ā
Well, today I did and later Iāll celebrate over fluffy frybread, powdered sugar and rivers of bottled honey. And why not? Thatās American Indian soul food, folks. Consume in moderation? Not today.
David Reich, the aforementioned professor of genetics at Harvard, called me a few minutes ago to chat about his recently published research which promulgates that American Indians immigrated in three subsequent waves to North and South America from Asia via the Bering Strait land bridge starting about, oh, 15,000 years ago.
According to GlobalPost.com, Reich and his team of ā60 experts analyzed the genetic data of more than 500 individuals from 52 Native American and 17 Siberian groups looking for similarities and differences.ā
What Reich and his team found, as written in the article, is that thereās a good possibility that some American Indians are the direct descendants ofāwait for itāHan Chinese.
Well, I thought, the B.S. about the B.S. just keeps getting better and better, doesnāt it? Yes, and sometimes you just have to sit back and watch a brutal wreck unfold and thank your stars that you had nothing to do with the catastrophe that someone will be made to explain and take full responsibility for at some point.
OK then. Back to the call:
Reich, the lead author of the research, said he was quick to buzz me back specifically because I was the first person from an American Indian publication to contact him about the study.
āWell,ā I said. āThis interviewās going to be a little different. Iāve got questions that a white journalist wouldnāt ask you.ā
āOK,ā he said with an obvious medley of confidence and concern.
āWe all know the Bering Strait theory as just thatāa theory,ā I said. āWhen did people ⦠when did scientists elevate it to fact? Is it a fact?ā
āNo,ā he said. āI donāt think it is considered fact. I think that itās a hypothesis about history, but no, itās not fact.ā
Just then I leapt from my chair in a sudden jolt of joy, consequently scaring the living hell out of the blonde female coffee shop-goer to my right who was, at that very moment, slurping loudly on a cappuccino. With frightened eyes she examined the wooden planks around us for a Black Widow or Brown Recluseāanything menacing that wouldāve prompted me to fly from my chair like cat out of water. Once I sat back down, tempering my excitement, the lady grabbed her things and glared at me all the way to a distant table by the window.
āThereās a chance that Indians are not from Asia,ā Reich continued. āSo far [the Bering Strait theory] is consistent with the data, but itās possible that itās wrong. ⦠Further research may prove that itās wrong.ā
I told Mr. Reich that as American Indians weāre oft bullwhipped with the hokum of the Bering Strait theory, even as early as grade school. I know I wasāand as Iāve told many people, both friend and foe, it was around the time when I discovered masturbation that my school principal began calling me an āinjunā over the loudspeaker every morning just before social studies with that terse teacher who loved to celebrate Columbus Day with cheap Nina, PiƱta and Santa Maria cupcakes.
I thanked Reich for his time, grabbed my things and headed for Tocabeāthe American Indian eatery in north Denverāto demand that Ben, the owner, fatten me up and then trundle me out. āYouāre going to have to be my ride home,ā I uttered to my roommate, Juan, over the phone as I hit the gas and took hairpin turns on two wheels en route to the restaurant. āI plan on clogging arteries. Yes, Iām celebrating, you buff dwarf!ā
Well, enough about food and reckless driving and short-legged roommates. Right now Iām still high from Reichās public declaration, one that bloodies the Bering Strait theory like a schlocky shill found fleecing folks in a crowd at a seedy carnival. Itās all smoke and mirrors, bub. And I have yet to encounter a single First Nation conscientious objector who buys into what Bering Strait advocates are doling out in classrooms and university lecture halls across this land ⦠our land.
At this point in this screed I think itās imperative for me to state that Iām not religious, but I am heavily spiritual. And Iāll continue to have faith in the creation story that was told to me as a curious kid by my elders: We Lakota have been on this land since time immemorial, which is oodles longer than 15,000 years. We emerged from the earth, a wind cave deep in the Black Hills. Thatās our creation story, slick, and until theories are made facts, Iāll stick to it ⦠or not. Iām a stubborn creature who gorges on fry bread and brazenly questions Harvard Medical academics just for kicks.
So, hereās the scoreboard: American Indians 1, Bering Strait theory 0. Letās keep the lead, eh? Hoka.
Simon Moya-Smith is an Oglala Lakota journalist and blogger from Denver. Heāll attend Columbia University School of Journalism in the fall.