Archaeological Collaboration in North America: Are "Benefits" to American Indian Communities truly being maximized?

Summary

With the continued evolution of collaborative archaeological projects between American Indian communities and archaeologists in North America archaeologists are constantly speculating ways in which their research will benefit American Indian communities. However, do archaeological research goals and agendas truly and positively contribute to the wants and needs of tribal communities involved? This paper examines various case studies in reference to collaborative archaeological projects in North America. The authors conducted a literature review of published deliverables from collaborative archaeological field projects to gain a better understanding of the continued disconnect between archaeological research goals and the utilization of collected data for "mutual benefit." Ranging from continued paternalistic notions to discrepancies in access to funding and social capital, various issues in the archaeological collaborative context need to be further critically examined.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage