The Navajo Nation, Diné Archaeologists, Diné Archaeology, and Diné Communities

Thompson, Kerry

doi:10.1007/s11759-011-9183-7

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Unfortunately, due to the nature of CRM projects on the Navajo Reservation, Southwest archaeologists are often unable to pursue in‐depth research of archaeological sites. In addition, because the Navajo Nation does not possess an overall historic preservation or research plan that is based upon a traditional Diné philosophy and worldview, most archeologists design research questions without the collaboration or consultation of the Navajo public (Marek‐Martinez 2016; Thompson 2011). The result is that many archaeologists who work on Navajo lands often focus their research not on the Navajo, but on that of the ancient Ancestral Puebloans.…”

Section: Postcolonial and Indigenous Archeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

4 Decolonizing Research for My Diné (Navajo) Community: The Old Leupp Boarding School Historic Site

Bears

2022

Archaeological Papers of the American

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The Old Leupp Boarding School (OLBS) was a Federal Indian Boarding School in operation from 1909–1942 on the southwest Navajo Reservation. It currently exists as a historical archaeology site, and it is an important place to the local Navajos of Leupp and Birdsprings, Arizona. Due to the nature of cultural resource management projects on the Navajo Reservation, which occur prior to development, in‐depth research of Navajo archaeological sites and collaboration with the Navajo public does not usually occur. With the support of local Navajo communities, my decolonizing research documents the history of the OLBS from a Diné (Navajo) perspective, as I explore Diné survivance and resistance within the context of this school. I argue that children utilized their Diné traditional cultural foundations to survive and resist assimilation imposed upon them by the U.S. government at Leupp. In keeping with Navajo cultural norms, I incorporate non‐destructive research methods including oral history interviews with Navajo elders, who attended the OLBS in the early twentieth century, and archival research to investigate the history of the OLBS. My research contributes to decolonizing and post‐colonial anthropological/archaeological research, Navajo Studies, and Native American and Indigenous Studies.

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Section: Postcolonial and Indigenous Archeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

4 Decolonizing Research for My Diné (Navajo) Community: The Old Leupp Boarding School Historic Site

Bears

2022

Archaeological Papers of the American

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“…For Ndee communities, various cultural institutions ensure that the cross-cultural bonds connecting Western Apache communities are also very much alive in cultural institutions practiced by various Ndee nations in the U.S. Southwest. One of the primary tenets recognized and actively adhered to by Ndee communities is “avoidance.” Similar to Navajo cultural practices concerning the past (Thompson 2011; Two Bears 2006, 2008), Western Apache communities rigorously attempt to avoid visiting and working in areas marked by past materials and other forms of past human presence. As Welch and Ferguson state, Ndee cultural principles mandate the respectful avoidance all things relating to the deceased.…”

Section: Ndee Avoidancementioning

confidence: 99%

We Know Who We Are and What Is Needed

Laluk

Burnette²

2021

Adv. archaeol. pract.

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Overall healing, harmony, and balance within Ndee (Apache) communities can be understood through the Ndee term Gózhó—“beauty, balance, and harmony.” Beyond this Ndee cultural precept, however, how are such states of Gózhó achieved, whether in the past or today? Within archaeological research on Ndee lands, achieving healing and promoting health is crucial to overall individual and community well-being. Healing activities that contribute to overall states of Gózhó can take many forms. As Rybak and Decker-Fitts (2009:334) suggest, “Native American healing practices exemplify key cultural perspectives and influence the identity development of Native American individuals.” Such healing practices including the use of yellow cattail pollen (hádńdín; Typha spp.) for protection are based on traditions and perspectives typically outside the mainstream of Western psychological tenets, yet they can have significant impact on the sense of well-being for Ndee communities. Ndee cultural specialists with the White Mountain Apache Tribe demonstrate that such traditions and perspectives are not only necessary for continued community well-being but are powerful conduits amplifying the past as present, which contribute to the ongoing cyclical and reciprocal nature of the ways Ndee communities have related to Nígosdzán—Mother Earth—since time immemorial.

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“…The notion that archaeological knowledge can be used in some simple way for 'public education' needs to be challenged, as many communities have different priorities and different ideas about knowledge, its uses and its values (Bezerra 2015;Thompson 2011). A degrowth approach would suggest that rather than considering archaeological information as a commodity (in the form of videos, websites or pamphlets) to be 'given' to local communities, knowledge should be co-produced in an environment where community perspectives take precedence, and where the time can be taken to work together in a way that goes beyond the 'tick-box' of 'consultation'.…”

Section: Archaeology In a Degrowth Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, there are tensions between the assumptions that indigenous people are interested in their archaeological heritage in the same ways that archaeologists are, and a lack of basic resources in those same communities (e.g. Thompson 2011).…”

Section: Archaeology In a Degrowth Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Degrowth and a sustainable future for archaeology

Flexner

2020

Arch. Dial.

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It is increasingly acknowledged that 21st-century archaeology faces serious challenges from a variety of directions, ranging from the theoretical to the practical. Above all, the discipline’s entanglement with capitalism, capitalist ideologies and capitalist institutions is simply unsustainable. The concept of degrowth involves a reconceptualization of archaeology’s possible future(s) in terms of a withdrawal from capitalism and an emphasis on collective and caring praxis looking towards both a sustainable future and the possibilities of the immediate present. A degrowth approach to archaeology can provide a useful supplement to existing critiques and proposed alternatives to current practices. Degrowth proposals such as reorienting economic behaviours towards cooperative, convivial and dépense (communal use of surplus) activities while freeing people to pursue work they find meaningful have potential applications in archaeological practice that address some of the problems currently facing the discipline.

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The Navajo Nation, Diné Archaeologists, Diné Archaeology, and Diné Communities

Cited by 8 publications

References 16 publications

4 Decolonizing Research for My Diné (Navajo) Community: The Old Leupp Boarding School Historic Site

4 Decolonizing Research for My Diné (Navajo) Community: The Old Leupp Boarding School Historic Site

We Know Who We Are and What Is Needed

Degrowth and a sustainable future for archaeology

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