Central Plains Archaeology: Plain and Simple - Ep 27

On today’s podcast Jessica hosts Carlton Shield Chief Gover, a PhD student at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. We talked about the unique history of Oklahoma and particularly the Pawnee and Arikara Nations. We talk about the challenges of when oral history and archaeology don’t agree and what it’s like to work in academia, CRM, and in tribal settings. Finally we talk about where he would love to see the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma’s THPO and Museum go in the future, as well as where he would like the field of anthropology to go.

Links

Contact

Archaeology Outreach in local Maya communities in the Yucatan - Ep 26

On today’s podcast Jessica hosts Dr. Adolfo Iván Batún-Alpuche (Maya) Professor and Investigator at the Universidad del Oriente, Valladolid, Yucatán, and Dr. Khristin Landry-Montes, Project Facilitator and Affiliated Researcher with InHerit: Indigenous Heritage Passed to Present at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Drs. Batún and Landry-Montes have been working on archaeology outreach in local Maya communities in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. They have been working with local middle school teachers to teach students about cenotes, underground freshwater aquifers, and their cultural, archaeological, and ecological importance. As one of my favorite part of this project, naturally, they are having students conduct oral history interviews with elders in their communities. Dr. Batún also shares about a previous community archaeology project that resulted not only in a community museum and heritage trail, but also reconnecting the community to their beekeeping heritage. In addition to their specific work in the Yucatán, we talk about what it’s like to be indigenous in Mexico and what it means to be “Maya”, still here, but not a stereotype or single entity.

Links

Contact

Technology - Episode 25

On today’s podcast Jessica hosts a panel on technology in the Heritage/Cultural Resource Management fields. Panelists include Aaron Brien (Apsáalooke), a member of the Night Hawk Dance Society and faculty in Salish Kootenai College’s Tribal Historic Preservation and Native American Studies programs, Emily Van Alst (Sihasapa Lakota descent), a PhD student at Indiana University, and Briece Edwards, Manager of the Tribal Historic Preservation Office of the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde. The panelists discuss how they use technology in their work, the positives and negatives of technology for tribes and heritage preservation, and tribes and Indigenous Archaeologist’s innovative adaptations of technology to serve their needs. They shared some especially exciting ways they are using technology to share information back to the communities they work with and as non-invasive or destructive alternatives.

Links

Contact

Museums, Representation, and Intersectionality - Episode 24

On today’s podcast we have Brandon Castle, a Senior in Fort Lewis College’s Anthropology Department, who has also worked at the Totem Heritage Center in Alaska, the Center of Southwest Studies in Colorado, the Field Museum of Natural History in Illinois, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He also discusses his work for Fort Lewis College’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. Brandon shares ideas on improving representation, intersectionality, collaboration, and the creation of safe spaces in anthropology and museums. We additionally talk about stereotyping and appropriation, including totems and two-spirit identities. Finally we take on how you experience identity differently in different settings and the balance between cultural relativism and pushing for culture change.

Links

Contact

Salish-Kootenai College’s Tribal Historic Preservation Program - Ep 23

On today’s podcast we have Aaron Brien (Apsáalooke), a member of the Night Hawk Dance Society and faculty in Salish Kootenai College’s Tribal Historic Preservation and Native American Studies programs. We talk about the blending of ethnography and archaeology within indigenous archaeology, as well as the identity challenges that many young Native Americans face and how indigenous archaeology can be one part of a holistic picture that can give young people a sense of who they are and hope for the future. He shares his experience working with National Geographic as one example of how photography and archaeology can reinstill that sense of identity.

“The application of oral histories to archaeology is at the forefront of the research, at no point is the narrative of tribal people secondary. This methodology is the foundation of our work. No longer should Indian people be delegated to the appendices. No longer are we ‘supplemental’ humans”.

Links

Contact