Indigenous Histories and the Queer Future of Archaeological Anachronism

Summary

Archaeological representations of modernity can inadvertently bind Indigenous history to a political past. Native origin myths, archaeological exhibits, and racist mascots cement the prior-ness of Indigenous communities. In order to challenge settlement in the present, Indigenous bodies must disrupt a settler state that fossilizes Native sovereignty. The case studies presented in this article consider moments when haunting intimacies with Indigenous presences queered the tense of settlement. Throughout this paper, I explore the queer resonance of uncanny affects swelling through earthworks encountered by Euro American settlers in the 19th century. Drawn towards sublime landscapes, settlers built homes and families on ruins of earthen monuments erected by Indigenous communities throughout North America. Focusing on the Emerald mound site and broader mound discourses, I examine how material intimacies underlying this 19th century phenomenon periodically corrupted Romantic sensibilities. Specifically, I highlight aspects of archival and spatial data that capture fleeting moments when the presence of Indigenous histories queered the tense of settlement.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Why Social Archaeology Matters

Keywords

Spatial Coverage