Strange Cousins from the West: Colonial Legacies within Historical Archaeology

Summary

Historical archaeology in North America can be broadly bifurcated between the archaeology of the colonizer (European peoples) and the archaeology of the colonized (Indigenous peoples). This bifurcation is continuously reified in the archaeological discipline, such as by the research questions asked, data privileged, and/or narratives chosen; however, all serve to re-affirm the divide as significant and ultimately conceptualize the colonizers and colonized as essentially different without reflexively engaging with what fundamentally differentiates colonized/colonizer peoples.This paper discusses many of the problematic assumptions within this dichotomized understanding by exploring multi-generational, 19th-century Mohawk and Irish sites in Ontario. Through this process of deconstruction, I emphasize the continued colonial legacy of archaeology. This work also highlights the importance of bringing these formerly disassociated discourses into dialogue with each other so as to create a more nuanced narrative of the pluralistic past.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Perspectives on Inequity: European and Indigenous Voices in the North American Landscape   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-27,06