Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-28T07:51:53.568Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THEORY IN COLLABORATIVE INDIGENOUS ARCHAEOLOGY: INSIGHTS FROM MOHEGAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2018

Craig N. Cipolla ,
James Quinn  and
Jay Levy
Craig N. Cipolla*
Affiliation:
Department of Art and Culture, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C6
James Quinn
Affiliation:
Mohegan Tribal Historic Preservation Office and Archaeology Department, 13 Crow Hill Road, Uncasville, CT 06382,USA
Jay Levy
Affiliation:
Mohegan Tribal Historic Preservation Office and Archaeology Department, 13 Crow Hill Road, Uncasville, CT 06382,USA
*
(craigc@rom.on.ca, corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is little doubt that Indigenous, collaborative, and community-based archaeologies offer productive means of reshaping the ways in which archaeologists conduct research in North America. Scholarly reporting, however, typically places less emphasis on the ways in which Indigenous and collaborative versions of archaeology influence our interpretations of the past and penetrate archaeology at the level of theory. In this article, we begin to fill this void, critically considering archaeological research and teaching at Mohegan in terms of the deeper impacts that Indigenous knowledge, interests, and sensitivities make via collaborative projects. We frame the collaboration as greater than the sum of its heterogeneous components, including its diverse human participants. From this perspective, the project produces new and valuable orientations toward current theoretical debates in archaeology. We address these themes as they relate to ongoing research and teaching at several eighteenth- and nineteenth-century sites on the Mohegan Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Il ne fait aucun doute que l'archéologie des nations amérindiennes, l'archéologie collaborative et l'archéologie communautaire offrent une variété de démarches pour refaçonner la façon dont les archéologues nord-américains effectuent leur recherche. Toutefois, les publications mettent en général moins l'accent sur la façon dont les archéologies communautaire et amérindienne influencent l'interprétation du passé au niveau théorique. Dans cet article, nous cherchons à combler cette lacune en examinant de façon critique la recherche et l'enseignement effectués chez les Mohegan, surtout en ce qui a trait aux impacts profonds qu'apporte une approche collaborative sur la pratique archéologique en mettant en valeur les connaissances, les préoccupations et les sensibilités des nations amérindiennes. Nous envisageons la collaboration comme étant plus grande que la somme de ses composantes hétérogènes, y compris les participants humains. De ce point de vue, ce projet propose de nouvelles directions pour les débats théoriques en archéologie. Nous illustrons ces thèmes à travers la recherche et l'enseignement effectués sur plusieurs sites des XVIIIe et XIVe siècles situés sur la Réserve Mohegan à Uncasville, Connecticut.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 84 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 127 - 142
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by the Society for American Archaeology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Alberti, Benjamin 2014 Designing Body-Pots in the Formative La Candelaria Culture, Northwest Argentina. In Making and Growing: Anthropological Studies of Organisms and Artefacts, edited by Hallam, Elizabeth and Ingold, Tim, pp. 107–125. Ashgate, London.Google Scholar
Alberti, Benjamin, and Marshall, Yvonne 2009 Animating Archaeology: Local Theories and Conceptually Open-ended Methodologies. Cambridge Archaeology Journal 19:344–356.Google Scholar
Alberti, Benjamin, Jones, Andrew M., and Pollard, Joshua (editors) 2012 Archaeology After Interpretation: Returning Materials to Archaeological Theory. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Atalay, Sonya 2008 Multivocality and Indigenous Archaeologies. In Evaluating Multiple Narratives: Beyond Nationalist, Colonialist, and Imperialist Archaeologies, edited by Habu, Junko, Fawcett, Clare, and Matsunaga, John M., pp. 29–44. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Atalay, Sonya 2012 Community-Based Archaeology: Research with, by, and for Indigenous and Local Communities. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Bendremer, Jeffrey C., and Thomas, Elaine L. 2006 The Tribe and the Trowel: An Indigenous Archaeology and the Mohegan Archaeological Field School. In Collaborating at the Trowel's Edge: Teaching and Learning in Indigenous Archaeology, edited by Silliman, Stephen W., pp. 50–66. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Bennett, Jane 2010 Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Bradley, James W. 1983 Blue Crystals and Other Trinkets: Glass Beads from 16th and Early 17th Century New England. In Proceedings of the 1982 Glass Trade Bead Conference, edited by Hayes, Charles F. III, pp. 29–39. Rochester Museum and Science Center Research Division, New York.Google Scholar
Bruchac, Margaret M. 2005 Earthshapers and Placemakers: Algonkian Indian Stories and the Landscape. In Indigenous Archaeologies: Decolonizing Theory and Practice, edited by Wobst, H. Martin and Smith, Claire, pp. 56–80. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Cipolla, Craig N. 2013 Native American Historical Archaeology and the Trope of Authenticity. Historical Archaeology 47(3):12–22.Google Scholar
Cipolla, Craig N. 2017a Remaking Archaeology: Decolonizing Indigenous-Colonial Histories through Mohegan Collaborative Archaeology. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Post PhD Grant Proposal, Grant 9401, Grant on file, Anthropology Department, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.Google Scholar
Cipolla, Craig N. 2017b Postcolonial Archaeology in the Age of Things. In Foreign Objects: Rethinking Indigenous Consumption in American Archaeology, edited by Cipolla, Craig N., pp. 222–229. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Cipolla, Craig N. 2018 Earth Flows and Lively Stone: What Difference Does “Vibrant” Matter Make? Archaeological Dialogues 25:49–70.Google Scholar
Cipolla, Craig N. (editor) 2017 Foreign Objects: Rethinking Indigenous Consumption in American Archaeology. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Cipolla, Craig N., and Quinn, James 2016 Field School Archaeology the Mohegan Way: Reflections on Twenty Years of Community-Based Research and Teaching. Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage 3:118–134.Google Scholar
Colwell-Chanthaphohn, Chip 2012 Archaeology and Indigenous Collaboration. In Archaeological Theory Today, 2nd ed., edited by Hodder, Ian, pp. 267–291. Polity, Malden, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Colwell-Chanthaphohn, Chip, and Ferguson, T. J. (editors) 2008 Collaboration in Archaeological Practice: Engaging Descendant Communities. AltaMira, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
DeLanda, Manuel 1997 A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History. Zone Books, New York.Google Scholar
DeLanda, Manuel 2016 Assemblage Theory. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, Scotland.Google Scholar
Deloria, Vine Jr. 1995 Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact. Fulcrum, Golden, Colorado.Google Scholar
Deloria, Vine Jr. 2003 [1973] God Is Red: A Native View of Religion. Fulcrum, Golden, Colorado.Google Scholar
Descola, Philippe 2013 Beyond Nature and Culture. Translated by Lloyd, Janet. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Edgeworth, Matt 2011 Fluid Pasts: Archaeologies of Flow. Bristol Classical Press, London.Google Scholar
Fawcett, Melissa Jayne 1995 The Lasting of the Mohegans: The Story of the Wolf People. Mohegan Tribe, Uncasville, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Fawcett, Melissa Jayne 2000 Medicine Trail: The Life and Lessons of Gladys Tantaquidgeon. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Ferguson, Kelly A. 2016 An Examination of Botanical Materials: Miller Fielding Site 2014. Report submitted to the Mohegan Tribal Historic Preservation and Archaeology Office. Copies on file at Mohegan Tribal Historic Preservation and Archaeology Office, Uncasville, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Glaza, Tobias 2003 A Historical Ethnobotany of the Pequot Indians of Southeastern Connecticut 1800–1950: New Insights Using a Multi-disciplinary Approach. Master's thesis, Department of Botany, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Gosden, Chris 2014 Commentary: The Archaeology of the Colonized and Global Archaeological Theory. In Rethinking Colonial Pasts through Archaeology, edited by Ferris, Neal, Harrison, Rodney, and Wilcox, Michael V., pp. 476–482. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Harris, Oliver J. T., and Cipolla, Craig N. 2017 Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Harris, Oliver J. T., and Robb, John 2012 Multiple Ontologies and the Problem of the Body in History. American Anthropologist 114:668–679.Google Scholar
Hayes, Charles F. III (editor) 1983 Proceedings of the 1982 Glass Trade Bead Conference. Rochester Museum and Science Center Research Division, New York.Google Scholar
Johnson, Matthew 2010 Archaeological Theory: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Wiley, Malden, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Karklins, Karlis 1985 Glass Beads: The 19th Century Levin Catalogue and Venetian Bead Book and Guide to Description of Glass Beads. Parks Canada, Hull, Quebec.Google Scholar
Keane, Webb 2013 Ontologies, Anthropologists, and Ethical Life. Hau 3(1):186–191.Google Scholar
Kidd, Kenneth E., and Kidd, Martha A. 1970 A Classification System for Glass Beads for the Use of Field Archaeologists. In Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 1, pp. 45–89. Parks Canada, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Kohn, Eduardo 2013 How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Levy, Jay 2017 Áhki Wuyitupôhtam (The Land Is Sacred): A Career in the Sacred. SAA Archaeological Record 17(3):23–25.Google Scholar
Lowenthal, David 1985 The Past Is a Foreign Country. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Matthews, Christopher 2014 To Excavate an Ethics from Archaeology. Anthropology Now 6(3):118–125.Google Scholar
McGhee, Robert 2008 Aboriginalism and the Problems of Indigenous Archaeology. American Antiquity 73:579–597.Google Scholar
McMullen, Anne, and Handsman, Russell G. (editors) 1987 A Key Into the Language of Woodsplint Baskets. American Indian Archaeological Institute, Washington, Connecticut.Google Scholar
McNiven, Ian J. 2016 Theoretical Challenges of Indigenous Archaeology: Setting an Agenda. American Antiquity 81:27–41.Google Scholar
Miller, Christopher L., and Hamell, George R. 1986 A New Perspective on Indian-White Contact: Cultural Symbols and Colonial Trade. Journal of American History 73(2):311–328.Google Scholar
Mrozowski, Stephen A. 2017 The Symmetry-Asymmetry Continuum of Human-Thing and Human-Human Relations. Archaeological Dialogues 24:139–142.Google Scholar
Mrozowski, Stephen A., Gould, D. Rae, and Heather Law Pezzarossi 2015 Rethinking Colonialism: Indigenous Innovation and Colonial Inevitability. In Rethinking Colonialism: Comparative Colonial Approaches, edited by Cipolla, Craig N. and Hayes, Katherine H., pp. 121–142. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Mrozowski, Stephen A., Herbster, Holly, Brown, David, and Priddy, Kathleen L. 2009 Magunkaquog Materiality, Federal Recognition, and the Search for a Deeper History. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 13:430–463.Google Scholar
Nicholas, George (editor) 2010 Being and Becoming Indigenous Archaeologists. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Nicholas, George, and Andrews, Thomas D. 1997 At a Crossroads: Archaeology and First Peoples in Canada. Archaeology Press, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.Google Scholar
Olsen, Bjørner 2003 Material Culture After Text: Re-membering Things. Norwegian Archaeological Review 36:87–104.Google Scholar
Olsen, Bjørner 2010 In Defense of Things: Archaeology and the Ontology of Objects. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Olsen, Bjørner 2012 After Interpretation: Remembering Archaeology. Current Swedish Archaeology 20:11–34.Google Scholar
Said, Edward W. 1978 Orientalism. Random House, New York.Google Scholar
Silliman, Stephen W. 2009 Change and Continuity, Practice and Memory: Native American Persistence in Colonial New England. American Antiquity 74:211–230.Google Scholar
Silliman, Stephen W. (editor) 2006 Collaboration at the Trowel's Edge: Teaching and Learning in Indigenous Archaeology. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Silliman, Stephen W., and Sebastian Dring, Katherine H. 2006 Working on Pasts for Futures: Eastern Pequot Field School Archaeology in Connecticut. In Collaborating at the Trowel's Edge: Teaching and Learning in Indigenous Archaeology, edited by Silliman, Stephen W., pp. 67–87. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Sprague, Roderick 1985 Glass Trade Beads: A Progress Report. Historical Archaeology 19(2):87–105.Google Scholar
Strang, Veronica 2014 Fluid Consistencies: Material Relationality in Human Engagements with Water. Archaeological Dialogues 21:133–150.Google Scholar
Todd, Zoe 2016 An Indigenous Feminist's Take on the Ontological Turn: “Ontology” Is Just Another Word for Colonialism. Journal of Historical Sociology 29:4–22.Google Scholar
Viveiros de Castro, Eduardo 2015 Who Is Afraid of the Ontological Wolf? Some Comments on an Ongoing Anthropological Debate. Cambridge Journal of Anthropology 33(1):2–17.Google Scholar
Vizenor, Gerald 1999 Manifest Manners: Narratives of Postindian Survivance. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.Google Scholar
Vizenor, Gerald 2008 Aesthetics of Survivance: Literary Theory and Practice. In Survivance: Narratives of Native Presence, edited by Vizenor, Gerald, pp. 1–13. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.Google Scholar
Vizenor, Gerald (editor) 2008 Survivance: Narratives of Native Presence. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.Google Scholar
Watkins, Joe 2000 Indigenous Archaeology: American Indian Values and Scientific Practice. AltaMira, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Watts, Christopher (editor) 2013 Relational Archaeologies: Humans, Animals, Things. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Witmore, Christopher L. 2007 Symmetrical Archaeology: Excerpts of a Manifesto. World Archaeology 39:546–562.Google Scholar
Woodward, Arthur 1932 The Value of Indian Trade Goods in the Study of Archaeology. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 3(1):8–9, 16–19.Google Scholar
Zedeño, María Nieves 2008 Bundled Worlds: The Roles and Interactions of Complex Objects from the North American Plains. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 14:362–378.Google Scholar
Zedeño, María Nieves 2009 Animating by Association: Index Objects and Relational Taxonomies. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 19:407–417.Google Scholar
Zedeño, María Nieves 2013 Methodological and Analytical Challenges in Relational Archaeologies: A View from the Hunting Ground. In Relational Archaeologies: Humans, Animals, Things, edited by Watts, Christopher, pp. 117–134. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar