1st Edition
Working as Indigenous Archaeologists Reckoning New Paths Between Past and Present Lives
Working as Indigenous Archaeologists explores the often-contentious relationship between Indigenous and other formerly colonized peoples and Archaeology through their own voices.
Over the past 30-plus years, the once-novel field of Indigenous Archaeology has become a relatively familiar part of the archaeological landscape. It has been celebrated, criticized, and analyzed as to its practical and theoretical applications, and its political nature. No less important are the life stories of its Indigenous practitioners. What has brought some of them to become practicing archaeologists or heritage managers? What challenges have they faced from both inside and outside their communities? And why haven’t more pursued Archaeology as a vocation or avocation? This volume is a collection of 60 autobiographical chapters by Indigenous archaeologists and heritage specialists from around the world—some community based, some academic, some in other realms—who are working to connect past and present in meaningful, and especially personal ways. As Archaeology continues to evolve, there remain strong tensions between an objective, science-oriented, evidentiary reasoning approach to knowing the past and a more subjective, relational approach informed by local values, traditional knowledge, and holistic perspective. While there are no maps for these new territories, hearing directly from those Indigenous individuals who have pursued Archaeology reveals the pathways taken. Those stories will provide inspiration and confidence for those curious about what lies ahead.
This is an important volume for anyone interested in the present state and future of the archaeological discipline.
Acknowledgements
A Word about“Words”
PART 1. Framing the Conversation
Introduction: Reckoning New Paths
George Nicholas and Joe Watkins
PART 2. Listening and Learning
1 Feminist Archaeologies from the Borders
Daniela Balanzátegui
2 Seeking My Center Place: Migrations through Science and Tradition
Lyle Balenquah
3 Starting Archaeological Studies as a Mature Student in My 40s
Robyne Bancroft
4 Indigenous Archaeology and My Responsibility to Archaeological Legacies
Kristen Barnett
5 Decolonizing the Maya Discourse of Identity as an Archaeologist
Adolfo Iván Batún Alpuche
6 Archaeological Double Agency
Beau D. Carroll
7 Mayaland Deciphered: Archaeologies of the Self
Juan A. Castillo Cocom
8 Where We Ultimately Belong
M. Hinanui Cauchois
9 A Murdi Geoarchaeologist's Story
Malcolm J. Connolly
10 From My Tradition to My Profession: Moving between the “Gentiles,” Archaeologies, and the Painted Hills
Jimena Cruz Mamani
11 All Roads Lead Home
Marcela Diaz
12 Working as a Proud Archaeologist Where I Originate
Kodzo Gavua
13 Country, Language, Culture and Ancestors: The Cultural and Archaeological Journey of a Wiradjuri-Wangaaypuwan winarr
Sharon Hodgetts
14 Earth Mother, Sky Father and Everything Inbetween
Tracey Howie
15 Recalling Indigenous Knowledge in Cape Town
Robyn Humphreys and June Bam-Hutchison
16 From a Barman to a Scholar: Sharing the Experience of Being an Archaeologist and a Heritage Scholar in Tanzania
Elgidius E. B. Ichumbaki
17 Being and Becoming One of the Voices of Haitian Archaeology
Joseph Sony Jean
18 Coming Home with a Vengeance: Indigenous Activism on the Margins of Archaeology
Ivana Carina Jofré
19 What Makes Me Different
Des Tatana Kahotea
20 Making Inuit Archaeology Matter in Kalaallit Nunaat
Mari Kleist
21 Finding Strength in Culture and History
Jacinta Koolmatrie
22 Raiders of a Lost Identity: Indigeneity and Archaeology in the Dominican Republic
Pauline M. Kulstad-González
23 NDEE Archaeologist???
Nicholas Laluk
24 Learning and Teaching with Love: An Indigenous Auntie’s Journey in Archaeology
Ora V. Marek-Martinez
25 Becoming an African Archaeologist
Asmeret Ghebreigziabiher Mehari
26 Being an Indigenous Archaeologist is a Calling: Finding Purpose in Archaeology
Nthabiseng Mokoena-Mokhali
27 My Story as an Indigenous Archaeologist and the Story of the Sami Prehistory in Archaeology
Inga-Maria Mulk
28 The Past Is Exactly How It Should Be: Lessons in Indigenous Archaeology from a Birch Bark Biter
Bonnie D. Newsom
29 Being More Than an Indigenous Archaeologist
John William Norder
30 From Dictionary to Archaeology: My Intellectual Journey
Akinwumi Ogundiran
31 Being “Indigenous’’ Is Weird
Rita Ujunwa Onah
32 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
Lyndon Ormond-Parker
33 The Path to Recognizing One’s Own Indigenous Identity: Implications and Challenges for an Archaeologist from the Peruvian Andes
Manuel F. Perales Munguia
34 Growing up within the Territory of Great Zimbabwe
Innocent Pikirayi
35 Being a Nyikina Archaeologist
Emily Poelina-Hunter
36 Becoming a Wiradjuri Archaeologist
Kellie Pollard
37 Laklãnõ, the Daughter of the Sun and Her Journey
Walderes Coctá Priprá de Almeida
38 Rima O Te Rapa Nui—the Hand of Rapa Nui
Rafael Rapu Rapu
39 Reflections of a Oaxacan on Community Archaeological Work in Changing Times
Jorge Luis Rios Allier
40 When Science Becomes Personal: Practicing Scientific Research as a Borikua Archaeologist
Isabel C. Rivera-Callazo
41 A Journey to and from Archaeology
Zac Roberts
42 Finding a Sense of Belonging in a Discipline That Thinks You’re Extinct
Tsim D. Schneider
43 Becoming a Čâhiksičâhiks Archaeologist
Carlton Shield Chief Gover
44 Being an Indigenous Archaeologist in Sudan
Intisar Soghayroun
45 My Indian Name Is Pyroepistemology (“Fire Is a Cleansing Path”)
Paulette Steeves
46 Reweaving Relations: An Indigenous Archaeologist’s Journey
Kisha Supernant
47 My Difficult Journey through the Ethiopian Historical Layers
Habtamu Mekonnen Taddesse
48 Walking the Walk: The Adventures of an Indigenous Decolonialist in the Land of Archaeology
Diane L. Teeman
49 Being a Female Papua New Guinea Archaeologist: Finding My Feet through Understanding the Past
Roxanne Tsang
50 I Ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma Hope: Using Our Past to Inform Our Future: Cultural Heritage Stewardship by and for Our People
Kelley Lehuakeaopuna Uyeoka
51 Reclaiming Our Voices: An Indigenous Archaeologist’s Feminist Approach to Rock Art and Heritage
Emily C. Van Alst
52 Being a iTaukei Archaeologist
Tarisi Vunidilo
53 Developing a Wai Wai Archaeology to Strengthen Ancestral Knowledge
Jaimie Xamen Wai Wai
54 Knowledge as Wisdom
Camina Weasel Moccasin
55 The Land Is Our Mother
Annette Xiberras
56 Dè Goı̨zıí (“Place Names”)
John B. Zoe
PART 3. Reflective Essays
Object Lessons: Reflexive Research and Restorative Methodologies
Margaret M. Bruchac
Archaeology and Maya Studies among Contemporary Mayans
Antonio Cuxil
Learning How to Dig Deep in Order to Thrive
Dorothy Lippert
He maha ngā whaiwhakāro: Reflections of a Wahine Māori Archaeologist
Makere (Margaret) Rika-Heke
PART 4. Afterword
George Nicholas and Joe Watkins
Biography
George Nicholas is Distinguished Professor of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University, Canada, and holds adjunct faculty positions at Hokkaido University and Flinders University. An anthropologically oriented archaeologist, he has worked with and for Indigenous groups worldwide for over 35 years. He was founding director of SFU’s Indigenous Archaeology program in Kamloops, BC (1991-2005), and director of the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project (2008-2016). His work focuses on research ethics, intellectual property, intangible heritage, archaeological theory, and Indigenous Archaeology. Previous publications include At a Crossroads: Archaeology and First Peoples in Canada (1997) and Being and Becoming Indigenous Archaeologists (2010).
Joe Watkins is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and has been involved in archaeology, anthropology and heritage preservation initiatives for more than 50 years. His book Indigenous Archaeology: American Indian Values and Scientific Practice (2000) is considered a foundational work in establishing Indigenous Archaeology as an internationally acknowledged area of Archaeology. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on the ethical practice of anthropology and anthropology’s relationships with descendant communities and populations, including American Indians, Australian Aboriginals, New Zealand Māori, and the Japanese Ainu. He was President of the Society for American Archaeology from 2018 to 2021.
