The man who was found mining gypsum was, in 1935, treated as a scientific and tourist resource.

In the framework that now governs the cave’s interpretation of his story, he is an ancestor of living peoples, and what happens to his remains is not a scientific decision or a park management decision but a decision that belongs to the communities connected to him.

The shift from the former framework to the latter is not complete — the legal and ethical standards are still being worked out in specific cases across the country, and the NAGPRA compliance process has been significantly criticized for its pace and for persistent gaps in institutional compliance.

But the direction of the shift is clear, and Mammoth Cave’s handling of the miner’s remains — the decision to reinter him in a secret location rather than continue displaying him — was ahead of the legal mandate.