"Come Together, Right Now:" The Oklahoma Public Archaeology Network and Its Role in Oklahoma Public Archaeology

Summary

Like many other states, Oklahoma has a long history of productive public archaeology, with citizen and professional stakeholders working side-by-side to further archaeological research and preservation. However, the changing nature of archaeology (most particularly the shift to a heavy emphasis on compliance work) has led to miscommunication and misunderstanding among the many stakeholders in Oklahoma’s archaeological community and to less-productive working relationship among them than existed several decades ago. Yet opportunities for citizen-archaeologist collaboration still abound, and with this in mind we founded the Oklahoma Public Archaeology Network (OKPAN). OKPAN facilitates dialogue among stakeholders and creates new opportunities for Oklahoma citizens, including members of the state’s many indigenous nations and avocational archaeologists to engage together in the study and stewardship of the past. In its first year, OKPAN sponsored several major statewide initiatives, the goals and results of which we discuss in our presentation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Collaborative and Community Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15229