I understand and applaud HCN’s effort to give Indigenous peoples a strong platform to express their views. You have had many fantastic interviews with Indigenous scientists that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading.
However, the rant by Nick Martin regarding the White Sands footprint discovery was totally off-base. Oral history, while possibly suggestive of actual past events, is not definitive physical evidence.
I suggest that the honest way to have handled this situation would have been to present supporting evidence, followed by a peer review of other scientists, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who are experts in the field. That is how real science is done.
At least one person at HCN should have understood that emotional intensity, hyperbolic rhetoric and a sense of grievance do not add anything to scientific discussion. You recently ran an article about the need to have rigorous criticism of Indigenous television programming. I suggest that you extend that reasoning to Indigenous science as well.
Nelson Vore
Centennial, Colorado
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Totally off base.
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