Social Justice in Native North American Archaeology

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Social Justice in Native North American Archaeology," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite the widespread acceptance of community based research, less attention has been paid to assessing whether anthropologists and archaeologists are effectively addressing the wants, needs, and goals of American Indian and First Nations peoples. In short, are scholars actually contributing to social justice for indigenous people? In this context, social justice refers to our capacity as scholars to work with American Indian and First Nation entities to accomplish ends that benefit the whole community. Following this definition, presenters in this session will address questions such as, what does an archaeology of social justice mean for distinct American Indian and Indigenous Nations. How can anthropology move in directions that foreground the social justice needs of tribal and Indigenous communities? In answering these questions, this symposium draws together scholars working at the nexus of history, anthropology, and archaeology on critical issues in Native North America including decolonization, gender, environmental racism, settler-colonialism, critical race theory, sovereignty, and the politics of identity and race. We feel such an intersectional commitment to scholarship practiced in North America is not only crucial for the continued evolution of archaeology but for the practice of collaborative research in North America as a whole.