'American Indian' links first Americans with Asian ancestry

I first became interested in the Pueblo peoples of the U.S. Southwest in the late 1980s, during a visit to Santa Fe, New Mexico. At the Museum of International Folk Art, I met several young people whose appearance, to my eyes, suggested East Asian ancestry. On impulse, I greeted them in Korean — only to discover, to my embarrassment, that they were Pueblo. That brief encounter sparked my curiosity, leading me to explore their history.

When Europeans first arrived, more than 600 Indigenous tribes lived across North America. Among them, the Pueblo people have one of the oldest continuous histories, tracing back to the Clovis culture of around 13,000-12,750 B.C. in the Rio Grande Valley. Over centuries, they developed a culture that endures today. Pueblo mythology tells of ancestors traveling through a dark underworld before emerging in the Southwest — a story that may reflect Ice Age migrations from Northeast Asia across Beringia, carrying both lives and cultural memory.

Current research drawing from archaeology, anthropology and molecular biology strongly indicates that Native Americans, including the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples, migrated from Northeast Asia across the Bering land bridge around 20,000 years ago. Few outside academia realize that the American Southwest — New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah — is known as the “Cradle of Paleo-Native American Culture.”

I became inspired to explore Native American history more deeply. One influential work was the recently published book “American Indian: The Journey of Unfinished Civilization” by professor Choe Chong-pil, a leading Korean archaeologist and authority on Native American studies. (He is also my brother.) His broader research, presented in “The Origins and Evolution of Prehistoric Cultures in the Americas,” represents over five decades of fieldwork and comparative study across archaeology, anthropology, geology and genetics. The book argues that Native Americans share ancestral connections with Northeast Asia, including the northern Korean Peninsula.

Tracing a human odyssey that began 20,000 years ago, Choe describes what he calls “the longest journey in human history.” These migrants spread across the Americas, cultivating corn, potatoes and red peppers, building pyramids, and developing complex urban societies. He challenges outdated stereotypes of Native Americans as “barbarians,” presenting them instead as central contributors to world civilization.

“If you ever saw traces of us on the face of a Native American, it might not be mere illusion,” he observes, highlighting the enduring cultural and genetic echoes linking Asia and the Americas.

That unexpected moment in Santa Fe reinforced for me the idea that American Indians — the first Americans — have ancestral ties stretching across the Pacific to Asia. What distinguishes Choe’s book is its breadth and scope.

While most works on American Indians available in Korea have been fragmented or produced by nonspecialists, his study traces a comprehensive path from prehistoric migrations to the rise of the Maya, Aztec and Inca civilizations. The result is a scholarly yet engaging work, accessible even to general readers, who may find themselves swept along by its narrative as if reading an epic poem. For me, his work offered both historical insight and a sense of connection, linking my brief encounter in Santa Fe to a much larger human story.

Choe, a native of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, earned advanced degrees in anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, taught at Sejong University, directed its museum and led major Korean cultural institutions including ICOM (International Council of Museums) Korea. His career has earned him Korea’s Pride of Museum Award and Sweden’s Royal Order of the Polar Star. Choe’s book on Native Americans is worth reading, regardless of one’s professional or academic background.

Choe Chong-dae (choecd@naver.com) is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is president of Dae-kwang International Co. and founding director of the Korean-Swedish Association.