Archaeology impacts the lives of indigenous, local, or descendant communities. Yet often these groups have little input to archaeological research, and its results remain inaccessible. As ...archaeologists consider the consequences and benefits of research, the skills, methodologies, and practices required of them will differ dramatically from those of past decades. As an archaeologist and a Native American, Sonya Atalay has investigated the rewards and complex challenges of conducting research in partnership with indigenous and local communities. In Community-Based Archaeology, she outlines the principles of community-based participatory research and demonstrates how CBPR can be effectively applied to archaeology. Drawing on her own experiences with research projects in North America and the Near East, Atalay provides theoretical discussions along with practical examples of establishing and developing collaborative relationships and sharing results. This book will contribute to building an archaeology that is engaged, ethical, relevant, and sustainable.
Transforming Archaeology Atalay, Sonya; Clauss, Lee Rains; McGuire, Randall H ...
2014, 20160701, 2016-07-01, 2016-06-13
eBook
Archaeology for whom? The dozen well-known contributors to this innovative volume suggest nothing less than a transformation of the discipline into a service-oriented, community-based endeavor. They ...wish to replace the primacy of meeting academic demands with meeting the needs and values of those outside the field who may benefit most from our work. They insist that we employ both rigorous scientific methods and an equally rigorous critique of those practices to ensure that our work addresses real-world social, environmental, and political problems. A transformed archaeology requires both personal engagement and a new toolkit. Thus, in addition to the theoretical grounding and case materials from around the world, each contributor offers a personal statement of their goals and an outline of collaborative methods that can be adopted by other archaeologists.
A growing body of work illustrates that community-based archaeology can contribute in valuable and meaningful ways to communities, including helping individuals and groups to heal from historical ...trauma. Yet the current political climate makes it challenging, even dangerous at times, to engage in such work. In what is being called the 'post-truth' era, there is concern that science is under attack, and I argue that the threat is heightened for Indigenous science. For Indigenous communities and archaeologists, efforts to work in partnership to bring Indigenous perspectives into public view can make one a target for bullying, aggression, and hostility. This can be damaging and have serious negative repercussions including producing further trauma for communities and individuals. Drawing on Indigenous epistemologies, I propose a model of 'braiding knowledge' to create space for multiple ways of knowing that complement each other, arguing that such symbiosis is necessary for our contemporary forms of knowledge production, particularly in the current political climate. I provide the example of Archibald's approach to 'Indigenous storywork' as one method for archaeologists to explore, presenting examples drawn from research and teaching contexts to demonstrate the potential of arts-based research methods, such as graphic narratives, augmented reality, and animation. I propose these methods of storywork as worthy of further exploration by archaeologists in the current divisive political climate and as we face a world in crisis as one way of increasing science literacy. I argue that they have the capacity to 'mobilize knowledge', allowing archaeologists to reach diverse groups, creating space for knowledge exchange and connecting across differences.
Engagement with communities is increasing within universities, museums, and other institutions, including state, federal, and local agencies. Scholarly literature is filled with case studies of the ...challenges and positive outcomes of community-based research projects. The next necessary step is systemic change within our discipline and our institutions to transform them toward more decolonized models and systems that are collaborative and sustainable in a world that’s in a time of tremendous crisis and change. I argue that, due to two decades of experience engaging with communities, community-based archaeologists have skills that can help transform institutions.
Drawing on Anishinabe concepts of holistic health and well-being, this article explores ways that repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural items can contribute to healing and well-being in ...Indigenous communities. The focus is on “Indigenous storywork” and embodied practices amongst those who are engaged in reclaiming ancestral remains and cultural items, with examples from the author’s experience in repatriation, reburial, and reclaiming cultural heritage. The author describes her work developing a graphic narrative about repatriation as a method of storywork. She describes her use of comics and other storywork practices in teaching, and as a means of bringing Indigenous teaching and learning practices into higher education.
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a methodology for engaging descendent and local communities as partners in archaeological research. This article, based on a five-year ...comparative research project that examines CBPR's application to archaeology, demonstrates a collaborative model that involves reciprocity, is action based and aims to build community capacity while engaging communities in the process of archaeological research and heritage management. Included are details of what community-based participatory research is, the main principles involved in its practice and a demonstration of how it is being effectively applied 'on-the-ground' at Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Two components of the Çatalhöyük CBPR project are highlighted: the community internship program and the archaeological community theatre project.
Drawing on Anishinabe concepts of holistic health and well-being, this article explores ways that repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural items can contribute to healing and well-being in ...Indigenous communities. The focus is on “Indigenous storywork” and embodied practices amongst those who are engaged in reclaiming ancestral remains and cultural items, with examples from the author’s experience in repatriation, reburial, and reclaiming cultural heritage. The author describes her work developing a graphic narrative about repatriation as a method of storywork. She describes her use of comics and other storywork practices in teaching, and as a means of bringing Indigenous teaching and learning practices into higher education.
Conflicts between scholars and indigenous people over how research is conducted, its goals, and who benefits are well documented in both scholarly literature and popular media. At the same time, ...there are exemplary models of scholars working in partnership with indigenous communities on anthropological projects addressing community-identified needs and providing benefits to both local and scholarly communities. The work that the organization Strengthening Haudenosaunee-American Relations through Education (SHARE) has done in partnership with the Cayuga of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is one of the best examples involving archaeology of which I have read. SHARE is a nonprofit organization whose membership includes both Native and non-Native people, most of whom live in the upstate New York area. The organization was established to address ethnic tensions and anti-Indian sentiments that came about as the result of the Cayuga's efforts to reclaim their land in the Finger Lake region of New York through Federal District Court. Adapted from the source document.
