REU Site: Undergraduate Research Experience in Native American Archaeology & Heritage Preservation: A Cooperative Project of the Univ.of Arizona & the White Mountain Apache Tribe

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support for an Undergraduate Research Experience in Native American Archaeology and Heritage Preservation: A Cooperative Project of the University of Arizona and The White Mountain Apache Tribe. A major focus of the project will be to demonstrate, through participatory activities, the scientific and heritage benefits of cooperative research in archaeology. The REU experience will combine the resources of the University of Arizona's Department of Anthropology, which has an archaeological research station in Pinedale, Arizona, with one of the most active tribal heritage resource management programs operated by the White Mountain Apache Tribe on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Ten students will be supported for the six-week program each summer. Students will be drawn from undergraduates from across the country, with special recruitment from Native American communities. Student research activities will include mapping of Pueblo and Apache sites, archaeological survey, surface collections, ruins stabilization, damage assessment, laboratory processing and analyses, field trips, and excavation. All but the excavation and field trip component will be held on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in east-central Arizona. Excavations will be conducted on the Sitgreaves National Forest. A distingui8shed lecture series will be included as well as an ethics component. The results of the research projects will be presented in a mini-symposium at the end of the project and the symposium proceedings will be submitted to the White Mountain Apache Tribe. This award contributes to the Foundation's continuing efforts to attract talented students into careers in science through active undergraduate research experiences.