Setting Things Right: Indigenous Archaeology in Sonora, México

Summary

Larry Zimmerman taught us how to do Indigenous archaeology. He told us do not rob graves or lick bones, to ask questions that Indigenous people need answered, to put aside academic capital, to collaborate, to be radical, to listen, to be humble and to atone for the transgressions of our discipline. Such a transgression occurred in the Sierra Mazatan of Sonora, México. In 1902, a party of Yaqui warriors freed hundreds of enslaved Yaquis from haciendas near Hermosillo, and they sought refuge in the Sierra Mazatan. Days later Mexican troops outflanked the Yaqui warriors and attacked the camp of women and children killing 124 Yaqui. Three weeks later Ales Hrdlicka collected the skulls of 10 individuals, human bone, hats, blankets, weapons, and a cradle board from the battlefield. He shipped these materials to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The bi-national Proyecto Cerro Mazatan project worked collaboratively with the Yaqui tribes of Sonora and Arizona to repatriate the human remains and other materials that Hrdlicka took from the battlefield. The collaboration was a success and in the fall of 2009 the National Museum of American History returned the remains to the Yaqui People.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20227