Dear member of the Société des Américanistes,

We are pleased to invite you to the Assemblée générale of the société des Américanistes on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 6 p.m. in the cinema room of the musée du quai Branly.

This will be followed by a conference of E. James Dixon, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, USA, who will present

How, When, and Why Did Ice Age People First Arrive in North America

New research from different scientific disciplines converges to indicate that seafaring people were the first to colonize North America. This evidence supports the theory that people using watercraft traveled eastward from Asia by navigating along the islands and southern shore of the Bering Land Bridge and then southward along the Northwest Coast of North America. These first Americans reached the southern regions of the American continents thousands of years before the ice that blocked overland migration southward from the Bering Land Bridge had melted. Seafaring and coastal navigation were developed along Asia’s Pacific coasts by 35,000 years ago. These adaptations made it possible for people to navigate eastward along the southern shores of the Bering Land Bridge to North America circa 17,000 years ago. Recent archeological research along the Northwest Coast of North America supports this hypothesis.

The conference will be held in English.