Consultants Are People Too: Meaningful Consultation and Archaeology

Summary

Gaining meaningful information from traditional community consultants can often be difficult. Furthermore, exactly what constitutes such information has changed over time. Recently the focus in archaeology has shifted from a point based search for specific locations to a landscape based approach aimed at information that can be used to define the attributes of traditional cultural properties, so that areas which could contain them can be managed. This paper explores the elements needed to obtain such information. It is argued that the archaeological researcher needs to be sensitive to the goals and cultural perspective of the consultants, as well as be knowledgeable about the cultural limitations imposed upon these individuals. It is further argued that honesty and true sharing are essential elements- the researcher must be honest about why the questions are asked, to what uses the information will be put, and the likely outcomes of the action for which the consultation is occurring. Consultation, in the view of the author, is two sided and can’t be successful if otherwise. The paper concludes with an example of consultation with a Navajo family concerning a strip mine. Discussed are the purpose of the consultation, the results, and why it was a success.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Collaborative and Community Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage