Archaeologies by Community Mandate: Who makes the call?

Summary

Historically, precious little academic archaeology has occurred under the watchful eye of descendant communities who have witnessed generations of researchers come and go, sometimes with no direct contact regarding the results of archaeological investigations in their ancestral places. Despite more recent overtures to mend these practices, we (as a discipline) are still woefully lacking in this regard. Nevertheless, significant changes in the role of cultural patrimony to that of lynchpin in the mobilization of "community" within the last few years has not only challenged the privileges of the academy, but has also brought researchers closer and more deeply engaged in the contemporary struggles of their hosts and collaborative partners. This reification of community power has meant new kinds of risks and rewards for both sides, and directly impacts the types of research questions addressed in a collaborative project. This paper draws upon examples of nascent research agendas in California, New Mexico, and South Africa to explore why and how what might be seen as taking a chance with research is perhaps the most powerful commitment of all.

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

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Archaeologies by Community Mandate: Practicing Collaborative and Community-Engaged Research

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