Pragmatism and the Art of Collaborative Research

Summary

This paper outlines the continuing development of the Hassanamesit Woods Project – a ten-year collaboration between the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the Nipmuc Nation of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Drawing inspiration from the writings of pragmatic philosophers such as Fredrick Peirce, John Dewey, Henry James, Richard Rorty and Patrick Baert, this paper outlines the benefits of working collaboratively with indigenous groups such as the Nipmuc. The primary focus of the paper is the highly productive quality of the working relationship that has developed between the Fiske Center and the Nipmuc Nation that center on the ability of archaeology to document political continuity over the past 300 years. Research has helped in documenting community gatherings as well as the slow, but steady dispossession of Nipmuc land following King Philip’s War (1675-1676).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20750