Indigenous Archaeology

American Indian Values and Scientific Practice

By (author) Joe Watkins

Hardback - £106.00

Publication date:

17 January 2001

Length of book:

240 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

ISBN-13: 9780742503281

As a practicing archaeologist and a Choctaw Indian, Joe Watkins is uniquely qualified to speak about the relationship between American Indians and archaeologists. Tracing the often stormy relationship between the two, Watkins highlights the key arenas where the two parties intersect: ethics, legislation, and archaeological practice. Watkins describes cases where the mixing of indigenous values and archaeological practice has worked well—and some in which it hasn't—both in the United States and around the globe. He surveys the attitudes of archaeologists toward American Indians through an inventive series of of hypothetical scenarios, with some eye-opening results. And he calls for the development of Indigenous Archaeology, in which native peoples are full partners in the key decisions about heritage resources management as well as the practice of it. Watkins' book is an important contribution in the contemporary public debates in public archaeology, applied anthropology, cultural resources management, and Native American studies.
Dr. Watkins is to be commended for his thorough research and even-handed presentation of the facts and issues in a debate that sparks emotion on both sides.