Pain and Perseverance: An Archaeological Study of the First-Aid and Ethnopharmacology of Undocumented Migration

Summary

Undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert must survive the dangers of extreme heat and rugged terrain, while simultaneously avoiding apprehension and physical abuse by the US Border Patrol. A successful migration attempt therefore depends, in part, on the ability to endure or alleviate pain experienced en route. In order to better understand how health concerns play into the strategies and experiences of migrants, this paper presents an analysis of pharmaceutical and aid-related artifacts recovered by the Undocumented Migration Project from migrant sites in southern Arizona. These materials show that pharmaceutical consumption is part of a migrant-specific habitus for coping with dangers and pain arising from both travel across the desert and preexisting conditions related to age, gender, fitness, class, or life history. When considered alongside ethnographic accounts, the use of pharmaceuticals in moments of pain may help to advance a phenomenology of border crossing in ways that informants themselves cannot.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Crossing Borders and Erasing Boundaries: An Overview of the First Five Years of the Undocumented Migration Project   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 128