Virtue Ethics and the Practice of History: Native Americans and Archaeologists along the San Pedro Valley of Arizona

Summary

For nearly a century, archaeologists have endeavored to illuminate 12,000 years of Native American history in the San Pedro Valley of southeastern Arizona. Although this scholarship has provided an essential foundation for our understanding of the region, it is limited by the construction of history through the singular interpretive framework of western scientific practice. The Tohono O'odham, Hopi, Zuni, and Western Apache peoples all maintain distinct oral traditions that provide alternative voices about the lives of their ancestors. This paper examines the ethical environment and implications of a collaborative ethnohistory project initiated in 2001, which sought to document Native American histories of the San Pedro Valley and adjoin humanistic understandings of the past with earlier scientific findings. We argue that a Virtue Ethics approach to the social context of this research offers sound moral guidance to a flourishing ethic of collaboration. Using this work as a case study, we aim to extend the available research models for future anthropological inquiry and broaden the ethical framework of historical research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Salt River Project Digital Library

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Daniel Garcia

File Information