Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies

Part of: SAA Electronic Symposia Papers, 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Today’s archaeological debates have historical and cultural roots. Only by knowing those who came before us, and how they generated our foundational knowledge, can we contextualize the present and build a better discipline. Current discussions, musings, successes, and failures, mirror those of Arthur Caswell Parker (a Seneca man, and the first president of the SAA) and his daughter Bertha "Birdie" Parker (a female indigenous archaeologist working in the early 1900s), Warren King Moorehead (a man with little academic training and curator of the Phillips Academy Department of Archaeology), Alanson Buck Skinner (an ethnologist and archaeologist for the Museum of the American Indian) and his regular collaborator Amos Oneroad (a Dakota man and Presbyterian minister). Many archaeologists espoused their support for Native peoples and cultures while undertaking large scale excavations without meaningful tribal involvement, without documenting their work so that others could learn from it, and without acknowledging the labor of those who made their work possible. The papers in this session focus on the legacies of these and other early archaeologists in order to examine our own shortcomings. Each author offers insights into today’s socio-political struggles while reflecting on our discipline’s history.

Other Keywords
Historical Archaeology • History Of Archaeology • Cultural Resources and Heritage Management • Historic • Museums, Collections, and Repatriation • Ethics • Coastal Archaeology • Gender • Archaic • Mississippian

Geographic Keywords
North America • United States of America (Country) • United Mexican States (Country) • Department of Martinique (Country) • Republic of El Salvador (Country) • Department of Guadeloupe (Country) • Cayman Islands (Country) • Antigua and Barbuda (Country) • Turks and Caicos Islands (Country) • Bermuda (Country)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

  • Documents (10)
Documents
  • "... and his wife Sally": The Binford Legacy and Uncredited Work in Archaeology (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Liz Quinlan.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Often mentioned as an afterthought in sentences about her more famous husband, Sally R. Binford has long been a topic of discussion for those interested in 20th century female archaeologists. Her foundational work in the early endeavors of the ‘New Archaeology’ set the stage for an academic revolution,...

  • Archaeologists as Indian Advocates? Lessons from Skinner, the Little-Weasel, and Moorehead, the Indian Commissioner (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only April Beisaw.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeologists who study the Native past have a responsibility to the Native present. But our academic training does little to prepare us for advocacy work. Personal interests, ethics, and the precariousness of employment often dictate what can be done. Doing nothing is easier and safer than speaking out, but...

  • Arthur C. Parker: Legacies of a Seneca Archaeologist (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jenifer Lewis. David Witt.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Arthur Caswell Parker was one of the first of his kind as an indigenous archaeologist. As a Seneca scientist with roots on the Cattaraugus territory where his grandparents lived, he had a foot in two worlds that may have aided with collaboration and research. However, his career started at a time when the...

  • Changing Tides: Tribal Engagement in Oregon's Coastal Archaeology  (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kassandra Rippee. Stacy Scott.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeology on Oregon’s Coast has been largely limited in scope and lacks a holistic viewpoint of coastal history. Archaeological investigations began in earnest around 1930 with avocational archaeologists like Marcus Seale interested in expanding their "trophy item" collections. The heavily male dominated...

  • Does the Archaeology Curriculum Condemn Us to Repeat the Sins of the Past? (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only William Meyer. Kristen Barnett.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Despite the early prominence of indigenous archaeologists like Arthur and "Birdie" Parker, Native practitioners remain a minority in the discipline. This exacerbates an already vexed relationship between archaeologists and Native peoples. Tensions flare in cases like that of Kennewick Man / The Ancient One,...

  • Glenn A. Black and the Lessons of Big Site/Big Science Archaeology (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Melody Pope.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Large-scale excavations in the first half of the 20th century, like those conducted by Glenn Black at Angel Mounds, were a means to deliver archaeology from its antiquarian roots to legitimate scientific practice. Though this transformation led to innovative methods, amassed collections of unprecedented size...

  • Good Medicine: Prescriptions for Indigenous Archaeological Practice (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sara L. Gonzalez. Ora Marek Martinez.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While the history of North American archaeology points to a long engagement with tribal elders and scholars, these encounters largely consist of unequal, extractive relationships wherein indigenous collaborators and indigenous archaeologists have been treated more as objects of study and pity—what Bea Medicine...

  • Out of site, Out of Mind: Women's Hidden Labor and the Making of Modern American Archaeology (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Katie Kirakosian.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While some work has been done over the past few decades to uncover the roles of female archaeologists who supported their husband's careers with little acknowledgment, less work has been done to explore the diversity of forgotten women's labor that helped support American archaeology since the late 19th...

  • Sacred Places and Contested Spaces in Maine: the Long Shadow of Colonialist Science in the Light of Repatriation (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ryan Wheeler. Bonnie Newsom. Chris Sockalexis.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Nevin site in Maine has become a contested space as Wabanaki people, seeking to repatriate their ancestors, confront archaeologists who adhere to the antiquated postulates of their predecessors. From 1912-1920, Warren K. Moorehead of Phillips Academy’s archaeology department, focused field work on Maine’s...

  • Start the Presses? John Alden Mason as Mesoamericanist and a Reluctant New Deal Archaeologist in the 1930s (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bernard Means.

    This is an abstract from the "Sins of Our Ancestors (and of Ourselves): Confronting Archaeological Legacies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. What lessons does incomplete, delayed, or lack of publishing hold for archaeologists working in the field today? During the 1930s (and after), J. Alden Mason was a curator at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia, and is possibly best known for his work during that time at the site of Piedras Negras in northwestern...