Posted February 17, 2020 Esther Mae Brigman Ferguson May 16, 1909 – February 17, 1995 My mother was largely responsible for my becoming an archaeologist. When I was a child, she encouraged my roaming the woods and fields by paying attention to all the things I brought back—from arrowheads to dead crows. In response to my…
February 14, 2020 Woods walk today with birding friends Steve McInnis and John Ebert. Highlights of the day were beautifully sunlit views of two soaring Red-tailed Hawks, Cedar Waxwings, and a Blue-headed Vireo. Overall we reported 33 species and 161 individuals to Cornell University’s ebird database. So far, the life-time list for our place, Horse…
Posted February 9, 2020 Midsummer 1953, my friend Tommy and I knew farmers were hiring kids to work in tobacco, so we made a plan. We’d see Crosby, and ask for jobs. Bright-eyed and cheerful, Crosby was one of the rare adults that we children called by his first name. He was a regular at our Methodist…
February 7, 2020 In 2016 Rachel Waters published a critical article on the use of DNA tests to establish Native American identity with emphasis on the Lumbee Tribe. Her article, “Bloody Lies: The Dangerous Frontier of Genetic Ancestry in the Battle to Prove Indigenous Identity.” The article was originally published at www.facebook.com, and was written as…
February 3, 2020 Aline gave me a 23&Me test kit for Christmas and here are the results: 95.2% European (mostly Scotland and Ireland); 3.8% Sub-Saharan (West and West Central) Africa; 2% Broadly East Asian and Native American; .1% Broadly Western Asian & North African; .7% Unassigned. To place this in perspective, on average we share 50%…