Bioarchaeology and Genome Justice: What Are the Implications for Indigenous Peoples?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Social Justice in Native North American Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper examines the theme of "discovery," used in relation to Indigenous lands and peoples to designate the respective claims of Indigenous peoples and the European peoples that colonized North America. In particular, I look at the domain of "bioarchaeology" and the construct of "genome justice" to explore how DNA science attempts to create narratives of identity, belonging and continuous possession of Native lands. "Ancient DNA" has been one of the most contested categories of scientific study for Native remains from North America under contemporary laws regulating repatriation and ethical study of Native human remains. This paper evaluates the interests of contemporary tribal governments in the data and scientific narratives that emerge from such studies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Social Justice in Native North American Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25130