On today’s episode Jessica hosts Dr. Jason De León, professor of Anthropology and Chicana/o Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. De León talks about how he found himself at a cross roads with traditional archaeology and completely changed his career to better match his values. We discuss his work with the Undocumented Migration Project, conducting archaeological, ethnographic, and forensic anthropology methods to better understand the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as his Hostile Terrain exhibition. We talk about the complicated ethics involved, civil disobedience in the face of injustice, representation, and what we can all do in the face of this structural violence. A fascinating look into how to use anthropology to address current issues in a new way.
Reclaiming Indigenous Histories and the Indigenous Paleolithic - Ep31
On today’s episode Jessica hosts Dr. Paulette Steeves (Cree-Metis), Associate Professor at Algoma University. We especially focus on the Indigenous paleolithic and how Dr. Steeves is showing that it was very different than how it is presented by the field of archaeology. We also talk about the Bering Strait theory and why the academy is so resistant to that narrative being challenged. In the beginning of the episode Dr. Steeves walks us through her career, including some incidents that were not so flattering for the field, and finish our by talking about what it would take to decolonize the academy and anthropology.
"In early February 1999 I was standing on the corner outside of an old brick building which housed my favorite used bookstore in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The store, which was situated on the edge campus and the entrance to Main Street was a magical place of dreams and respite, where I went for brief sojourns from the real world. The store also contained glassed in shelves with a wonderful collection of nickel candies, from which I created magical brown paper sacks of joy and happiness for my three children. As I exited the book store my oldest son Jesse who was 21, ran up to me, and smiled an accepted his bag of candy. He looked me in the eyes and thanked me and hugged me then just out of the blue he said; “no matter what ever happens to me, don’t you ever give up on your education, promise me you will never give, you will keep going and finish you bachelors and go on to a higher degree, be a doctor, be a lawyer, keep going, promise me you will never give up”, so that day in early February I promised him, I would never give up. Just a week later he was gone, crossed over from this world, and my promise to my son to never give up was the last conversation we had. This story is dedicated to my oldest son Jesse Blue Steeves Dec1, 1977-Feb 18, 1999, I can tell him now that thanks to his love and foresight, I never gave up."
Links and References
“'Just watch me': Challenging the 'origin story' of Native Americans”
Steeves, P. (2017). Unpacking Neoliberal Archaeological Control of Ancient Indigenous Heritage. Archaeologies, 13(1), 48-65.
Steeves, P. (2015). Decolonizing the Past and Present of the Western Hemisphere (The Americas). Archaeologies, 11(1), 42-69.
Steeves, P. (2015). Academia, Archaeology, CRM, and Tribal Historic Preservation. Archaeologies, 11(1), 121-141.
Holen, S. R., Deméré, T. A., Fisher, D. C., Fullagar, R., Paces, J. B., Jefferson, G. T., ... & Holen, K. A. (2017). A 130,000-year-old archaeological site in southern California, USA. Nature, 544(7651), 479.
Holen, S. R., Deméré, T. A., Fisher, D. C., Fullagar, R., Paces, J. B., Jefferson, G. T., ... & Holen, K. A. (2018). Broken bones and hammerstones at the Cerutti Mastodon site: a reply to Haynes.
PaleoAmerica, 4(1), 8-11.
Haynes, G. (2017). The Cerutti Mastodon. PaleoAmerica, 3(3), 196-199.
Dr. Steeves
Contact
Cultural Landscapes Panel SAA2019 - Ep 30
On today’s episode Jessica hosts a panel at the 2019 Society of American Archaeology conference on Cultural Landscapes. Panelists include Dr. Kisha Supernant (Métis) Associate Professor at the University of Alberta, Wade Campbell (Diné), Ph.D. student at Harvard, Michelle La Pena, attorney, writer, and former Pit River Tribal Councilwoman, Dr. Sean Gantt, Director of Education at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Kassie Rippee, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Coquille Indian Tribe, and Briece Edwards, Deputy THPO for the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde. Some of the considerations discussed include cultural landscapes and movement, landscape change through time and as a result of colonialism, the ephemeral nature of some cultural landscapes, representation of cultural landscapes, and the challenges of understanding landscape from a western science perspective.
Links
Sean- 704-651-5825, segantt@gmail.com
Wade- campbell01@g.harvard.edu
Contact
Jessica
Lyle
A Journey to Ancient Pawneeland - Ep 29
On today’s podcast Jessica hosts Roger Echo-Hawk, a writer / artist, and a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. We discussed his role in the origin story of what became Indigenous archaeology – the study of oral tradition; the unfolding racial Indian repatriation movement; the interfacing of archaeology and Indian Country; and the history of race and the rethinking of racial identity systems.
Links
Roger Echo-Hawk. Photo Credit: Linda Echo-Hawk
Roger Echo-Hawk on ancient Pawnee history:
Roger Echo-Hawk on Pawnee history:
Roger Echo-Hawk on Indigenous archaeology:
Contact
The Archaeological Spectrum - Ep 28
On today’s podcast Jessica hosts Rebecca Heidenreich (Diné), a graduate student at Arizona State University (and Jessica even refrained from making any Sun Devils jokes!) studying GIS. Rebecca talks about her experiences in both academia and CRM and how the two differ. She also talks about what it’s like navigating indigenous and scientific perspectives. It’s a very personal interview and an important listen for anyone trying to better understand what it’s like to be an indigenous archaeologist.