“Too Hood for This”: Navigating the Profession of Archaeology and Finding My Place

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Hood Archaeologies: Impacts of the School-to-Prison Pipeline on Archaeological Practice and Pedagogy" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

I found my roots in archaeology in undergraduate school during an archaeological excavation at the Stewart Indian School in Carson City, NV. It was an empowering experience. It was the first time I witnessed a BIPOC community having autonomy over their historical narratives. It also brewed a sense of rootlessness in me as an African American from the hood. Indigenous history, knowledge, and lifeways can be unearthed anywhere in the United States, but this is not the case for African Americans. The archaeological experience I had in Nevada encouraged me to pursue archaeology if it meant that I, the African American, could have a voice in the historical narratives of Black people. This collaborative experience was enticing, but it isn’t always the reality of archaeology and I found myself being “too hood” for the profession. But my personal experiences and professional experiences have influenced how I approach my work offering nuanced ways of thinking and taking archaeological practices back to the streets and into BIPOC communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Hood Archaeologies: Impacts of the School-to-Prison Pipeline on Archaeological Practice and Pedagogy   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40293.0