With, For, and By: Indigenizing Archaeology with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon

What does it mean to do archaeology with and for an Indigenous Nation? How might it change the methods we use to document Indigenous heritage or even alter the stories we tell? For the past five years Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology, a community-based participatory research project with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde's Historic Preservation Officer, has created a Grand Ronde way for studying the past that shows us what is possible when we work together to remember and tell tribal histories. This approach is rooted in the fundamental recognition of the Tribal Nation's sovereignty to create a self-determined future for how Grand Ronde heritage is cared for, now and into the future. Preliminary outcomes from the project and its field school suggest that Indigenizing archaeology not only transforms our discipline’s relationship with and to Indigenous communities, but also have the potential to refashion the relations cultivated within our own disciplinary spaces and, enhance our collective capacity to care for and protect Indigenous heritage. 

Bio: Dr. Sara L. Gonzalez is an Associate professor of Anthropology and Adjunct Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington where she is also a Curator of Archaeology the Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture. An anthropological archaeologist by training, she works at the intersection of Indigenous studies, tribal historic preservation, and public history. Her research contributes to the growing field of Indigenous and community-based archaeologies, which feature the direct engagement of Indigenous peoples in archaeology and are committed to the integration of Indigenous knowledge and methods into archaeological practice. She is currently director of two community-based participatory research partnerships: the Kashaya Pomo Interpretive Trail Project and Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology established with the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, respectively. In both of these partnerships, collaborative thinking with the Kashia and Grand Ronde Historic Preservation Offices resulted in nation-specific, low-impact archaeological approaches that enhance the capacity of US Tribal Nations and archaeology to care for, protect, and represent tribal heritage for future generations. As part of this work she has directed a number of community-based archaeological field schools, including the Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology training program, which has trained over 40 graduate and undergraduate students in how to do archaeology with and for the Grand Ronde nation. In addition to this work, Dr. Gonzalez has recently co-founded the Indigenous Archaeology Collective, a network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars within archaeology and related fields, and is a founding board member of the Black Trowel Collective Microgrants, which provides funding for archaeology students from working-class & historically looted communities. 

With, For, and By: Indigenizing Archaeology with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of
Date
Wed January 20th 2021, 12:00 - 1:00pm
Location
Zoom
Event Sponsor
Archaeology Center
Contact Phone Number