NAGPRA vs. Northwestern: It's Personal

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

As a twenty-one-year-old graduate student, I was present when an Indigenous ancestor, pipe in hand, was removed from the earth, placed in a box, and taken to storage. My encounter with this individual transformed and guided the course of my career in a field that has changed over the intervening decades and is working on recognition of human rights. I knew that disrespecting this burial was a violation of beliefs, values, and relationships of others, but I didn’t try to stop the digging. I failed then, but over the past 45 years, I have tried to implement the concept of cultural relativism in my work and to be a respectful liaison between Fort Drum and its Nation Partners: Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. The opportunity to learn from Indigenous colleagues has made me a thousand times better archaeologist than I could have ever hoped to be after training in an academic setting that featured no moral or ethical boundaries. When Northwestern asked for a bequest, I realized the debt I owe is to the ancestors and descendants we violated. My responsibility now is to do my part to insure they are able to return to their forever journeys.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35629.0