Holding Ground: Reconsidering the Sensitivity of Backdirt in the Context of NAGPRA

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Collaborative and Community Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

When the remains of Native ancestors, or sacred and ceremonial objects, are screened from backdirt or backfill, what implications does this have for the soil in which they rested? Backdirt is usually considered unimportant after screening, but should, perhaps, archaeologists more carefully consider the ethical implications of the ways that backdirt is processed? Conceptualizing backdirt as potential cultural property raises several concerns, two of which will be discussed in this paper. One is of particular relevance for archaeologists in the field: how should excavation, screening, and tribal consultation practices be developed in order to accommodate the potentially sensitive nature of backdirt? How can issues of cultural sensitivity and consent be addressed effectively? The second concern is especially applicable to museum and NAGPRA practitioners, as well as laboratory archaeologists: how can we appropriately handle soil samples, including those from legacy collections? Might we develop best practices for identifying these and including them in NAGPRA inventories and consultations? We present a case study detailing the importance of approaching backdirt as material that is potentially culturally sensitive and subject to NAGPRA, and suggest best practices based on the perspectives generated by the case study.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Collaborative and Community Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36688.0