Situational Identity and The Materiality of Illegal Immigration

Summary

This paper centers on a material culture analysis of the contents of an abandoned emigrant’s backpack found in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Documents and objects identify the emigrant as a young Haitian man. These objects are remnants from the long, arduous journey of a displaced individual from a politically and economically conflicted homeland to a contested U.S. territory. The objects are tangible artifacts of struggle, persistence, and agency. They are simultaneously artifacts of identity--expressions of self-definition as a Haitian emigrant in transit. The material culture provides a means of accessing the multifaceted identity of a Haitian migrant, his sense of self, and how it was historically constructed within the society in which he lived. The search for the identity of ‘Ulysses’ serves as a microcosm for understanding broader Haitian immigration processes and the recontextualized identities of displaced Haitians in transit and upon arrival in new territories.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeologies of Removal   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-80,04