Nat’aah Nahane’ Bina’ji O’hoo’ah: Diné Archaeologists & Navajo Archaeology in the 21st Century

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Nat’aah Nahane’ Bina’ji O’hoo’ah: Diné Archaeologists & Navajo Archaeology in the 21st Century," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Navajo people have been directly involved in archaeology since Richard Wetherill hired his first excavation workers at Chaco Canyon in the late 1800s. More than a century later, however, it's clear that relatively few studies have attempted to incorporate the Navajo archaeological record into broader anthro-historical discussions. Indeed, "mainstream" Puebloan-focused Southwestern archaeology has long promoted a marginalized view of Navajo culture/history with little input from Diné people themselves. Developing archaeological projects that look beyond acculturation and migration in order to highlight the complexity of Diné society prior to and following the onset of Euro-American colonialism in the Southwest is the only way to correct this imbalance. As this session demonstrates, such a movement is underway. Where once non-Native archaeologists working within CRM frameworks conducted the majority of Navajo-focused research, a new generation of Diné archaeologists are now conducting their own studies. Drawing upon diverse methodological and theoretical influences, these projects combine earlier research with traditional Diné knowledge and new archaeological data to explore a variety of questions. These papers showcase current research by Diné archaeologists who are committed to understanding past Navajo experiences in the Southwest and extracting lessons relevant to the continuation of Diné culture in the 21st century.

Other Keywords
Indigenous • Navajo • Zooarchaeology • Ceramic Analysis • Historic • Communities of Practice • contact period • Ethnohistory/History • Ethnography/Ethnoarchaeology • Navajo; Diné; Pastoralism; Sheep

Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) • North America (Continent) • USA (Country) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • Oklahoma (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Texas (State / Territory) • Sonora (State / Territory) • Chihuahua (State / Territory) • Colorado (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-5 of 5)

  • Documents (5)
Documents
  • Diné łe’saa łitsxo bik'ah dash chá’ii dajíi la: Navajo Gobernador Polychrome Pottery (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Timothy Wilcox.

    This is an abstract from the "Nat’aah Nahane’ Bina’ji O’hoo’ah: Diné Archaeologists & Navajo Archaeology in the 21st Century" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Gobernador Polychrome is a Navajo ceramic practice whose development was hastened by participation in the Pueblo Revolt. It represents a visible change in Navajo ceramic technology and a window into their social history. My discussions, in this paper are not aligned with Navajo...

  • Held Hostage by a Paradigm (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kerry Thompson.

    This is an abstract from the "Nat’aah Nahane’ Bina’ji O’hoo’ah: Diné Archaeologists & Navajo Archaeology in the 21st Century" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Anyone who has studied southwestern archaeology is familiar with the paradigm that dictates how Navajos are understood in the trajectory of indigenous life written by anthropologists and archaeologists in the academic study of the southwest. The paradigm is this: descendants of migratory...

  • Na’nilkad béé na’niltin: The Early Navajo Pastoral Landscape Project (Phase 1) – Experimental Ethnoarchaeology on the Navajo Nation (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Wade Campbell.

    This is an abstract from the "Nat’aah Nahane’ Bina’ji O’hoo’ah: Diné Archaeologists & Navajo Archaeology in the 21st Century" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The non-coerced adoption of sheep by Diné (Navajo) communities in northwest New Mexico during the 17th century and the subsequent rise of an intensely pastoral lifeway stand out as unique developments among Native societies in the American Southwest. By applying a three-phase research design...

  • Reseaching My Heritage: The Old Leupp Boarding School Historic Site and Navajo Survivance (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Davina Two Bears.

    This is an abstract from the "Nat’aah Nahane’ Bina’ji O’hoo’ah: Diné Archaeologists & Navajo Archaeology in the 21st Century" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. My research documents the history of the Old Leupp Boarding School (OLBS), a Navajo federal Indian boarding school in operation from 1909-1942, as it explores Diné (Navajo) survivance within the context of this school. Aside from documenting the history of this school, which has never been...

  • A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Diné Hunting Traditions (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Alicia Becenti.

    This is an abstract from the "Nat’aah Nahane’ Bina’ji O’hoo’ah: Diné Archaeologists & Navajo Archaeology in the 21st Century" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Throughout history, the Diné have worked to manage the arrival of new people, ideas, and resources into their communities. Following the introduction of Old World domesticates to northwestern New Mexico during the Gobernador phase (c. 1700-1775), Diné groups increasingly incorporated...