The Stockbridge-Munsee Community and SWCA Partnership: A Case Study for Collaboration and Mitigation in Consulting

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In the summer of 2023, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) contracted with the SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA)’s Amherst office to assist the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians (Tribe) with after-the-fact mitigation activities. The activities were in response to a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-funded flood disaster reparation project completed along the Rutland to Burlington rail line. The mitigation tasks included the production of an ArcGIS Story Map interface detailing the Tribe’s involvement in the Revolutionary War, as well as the development and production of interpretive panels. SWCA utilized internal GIS and marketing teams to generate interpretive panels and a StoryMap; to which the Tribe will continue to make additions as their research continues. Throughout the year-long effort, it was vital SWCA acknowledged their role as consultant aiding the Tribe in obtaining their goals, all the while maintaining respect, consistent communication, and flexibility. SWCA and the Tribe successfully produced deliverables that upheld the Tribe’s efforts to provide the public with an accurate narrative, told from their community’s perspective. Results from this project demonstrate how collaborative consultant tribal partnerships can strengthen tribal sovereignty and decolonize narratives.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53848