Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest," at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Community engagement is baked into the fabric of historical archaeology. It is regularly incorporated into our work and is integral to making archaeology relevant to the places we live and work in. There is a long tradition of historical archaeological work conducted in Idaho and neighboring states. Much of that work has been compliance-driven and has only sporadically been shared with wider audiences -- though that is clearly changing. The papers in this session represent a cross section of recent work in the inland northwest. All of the papers are derived from archaeological work undertaken with the idea of sharing archaeology with nearby communities, with some papers presenting the research gleand from the exavations while other share the processes of engaging the public directly.

Other Keywords
Idaho • Mining • Interpretation • Chinese • Public Archaeology • American West • Public Outreach • Pioneer • Public Health • Faunal Analysis

Geographic Keywords
Pacific Northwest • Utah • Northwest • Inland Northwest • Inland NorthWest/ Idaho • Boise Basin • Oregon, Pacific Northwest

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-7 of 7)

  • Documents (7)
Documents
  • Community Foundations: Public Archaeology and Digital Interpretation at Moscow High School in Moscow, Idaho (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Massey L Jordan.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 2019 and 2023, Idaho Public Archaeology at the University of Idaho conducted a public archaeology field school on the grounds of Moscow High School in Moscow, Idaho. This presentation covers preliminary research conducted after the excavations through object-based interviews with Moscow community members and the...

  • Creating Chinese American Teaching Trunks (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Matthew Alexander James Fuerst.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. For over 40 years the University of Idaho has conducted archaeology on a myriad of sites occupied by the many Chinese and Chinese American citizens who lived in Idaho in the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Cumulatively, this work has generated a great deal of knowledge about their...

  • Exploring Health Practices in Moscow, Idaho at the Turn of the 20th Century (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Irelyne A McGee.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 2023, the Idaho Public Archaeology project hosted a community-based field school in Moscow Idaho on the grounds of the current high school. An initial focus of the project was to engage the community and share archaeology with students. An additional outcome of the work was the recovery of a wide variety of...

  • Exploring the Foodways of a Community in Northern Idaho (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nicole Rojas.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 2023 the Idaho Public Archaeology project ran a publicly-oriented field school in Moscow, Idaho. The project was conducted on the grounds of the current high school and had two objectives. First, to create a program that could engage local students and community members and second, to explore the town’s history...

  • A Glass Act: Unearthing the Past at the Pon Yam House (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Juniper Harvey-Marose.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Pon Yam House is a historic building in Idaho City, a former gold-rush town. The site is named after Chinese entrepreneur Pon Yam, who operated a successful mercantile on the premises for over two decades and provides a rich context for studying Chinese migrant and Chinese American history. This analysis focuses on...

  • Reaching the Public vs. Connecting with the Public: Tailoring Public Archaeology’s Scope to Best Communicate with Communities (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ally R Gerlach.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Public archaeology emphasizes methods and interpretations which benefit those outside the academic sphere. However, "the public" is a broad and amorphous term, making it difficult for archaeologists to identify where to do a project, what form the project should take, and why they should participate in public...

  • Using Curation and Curriculum to Mitigate Echoes of American Imperialism in Central Oregon (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Meghan C. Caves.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Community Engaged Historical Archaeology in the Northwest", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. On the banks of the Umatilla River there is a place called tk̓úpa in the Sahaptian language, historically used as a permanent camp by the Umatilla people and named for the tule bulrush reeds they gathered there. Euroamerican encroachment saw this area used as an Oregon Trail river crossing, the site of the Umatilla...