A Glaring Absence: The Need for Native Philosophy in Ontological Archaeologies

Summary

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

The Ontological Turn has become thoroughly entrenched in archaeological research, providing both new avenues of topical research as well as strong influences over the discipline as a whole. It has provided a needed shift to thinking outside the traditional archaeological box, taking many steps in the right direction. Yet, in the majority of cases, archaeologists involved in ontological studies are theoretically dependent on Western philosophers, which perpetuates and reifies the use of colonial frameworks for understanding an archaeological record created by Indigenous peoples. We argue that by divorcing ontological studies from these Western-centric philosophies and replacing them with Native philosophies that discuss overlapping topics provides one means of helping to decolonize the discipline while also providing more culturally appropriate frameworks for understanding the archaeological record. In this paper we highlight topical areas of overlap between ontological archaeologies and Native philosophies to show where and how these philosophies can provide more appropriate frameworks of understanding.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35683.0