Indigeneity and Diaspora: Colonialism and the Classification of Displacement

Summary

The terms of indigeneity and diaspora are fixtures in scholarly discussion of colonialism, referring to different sets of relations between "homeland" and identity challenged by colonization.  The two sets of concepts might also be thought of as maintaining incommensurate statuses for American Indians and African Americans, implying radically different historical experiences.  This distinction unfortunately contributes to unhelpful disciplinary and racialized distinctions.  In this paper I explore the potentials and problems in extending the concept of diaspora to understanding the experience of indigenous people, and vice versa, including the contemporary political consequences of these terms.  I draw upon examples from Native North American communities of mixed and/or displaced ancestry, responding to the processes of European colonization.  What are the implications for archaeological practice and interpretations when confronted with communities which do not neatly fit these categories?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Entangling Colonial Narratives New and Old   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 184