SAA 86th Annual Conference: An Indigenous Response

In this special edition of the A Life in Ruins Podcast, Carlton co-hosts an episode with Emily Van Alst, Ash Boydston-Schmidt, and Kay Mattena. The four discuss the recent SAA controversy surrounding the "Curation, Repatriation, and Accessibility: Vital Ethical Conversations" session. Specifically, the “Has Creationism Crept Back into Archaeology?” presentation.

The four Indigenous scholars discuss their thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the content of the presentation, their disappointment in the SAA for platforming the talk, the future of the SAA, and how the society can improve its ethics and better support its Indigenous scholars.

Lastly, they discuss the fallout from the presentation and how some non-Indigenous scholars are taking advantage of Indigenous trauma to further their own careers, and how non-Indigenous scholars can truly be allies to Indigenous people.

Guests' literature recommendations:

  1. Indigenous Archaeology by Joe Watkins

  2. Archaeologies of the Heart edited by Kisha Supernant, Jane Eva Baxter, Natasha Lyons, and Sonya Atalay

  3. R words by Tuck and Yang

  4. Decolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai-Smith

  5. Considering the Denigration and Destruction of Indigenous Heritage as Violence in Critical Global Perspectives on Cultural Memory and Heritage: Construction, Transformation and Destruction by George Nicholas and Claire Smith

  6. We Are Dancing for You Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women’s Coming of Age Ceremonies by Cutcha Risling Baldy

  7. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmer

List of scholars to search:

  • George Nicholas

  • Vine Deloria

  • Phil Deloria

  • Roger Echo-Hawk

  • Larry Zimmerman

  • Chip Colwell

  • Steve Silliman

  • Zoey Todd

  • Gloria Anzaldua

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