Collaborative Research: Evaluating Indigenous Strategies Of Multicultural Interaction

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

Drs. Lee Panich, of Santa Clara University, and Tsim Schneider, of the University of California Santa Cruz, will direct a collaborative research project to understand how Native American societies persisted under Euro-American colonialism. While common understandings of colonial impacts on indigenous peoples in the Americas have focused on depopulation and loss of cultural traditions, archaeological research is uniquely positioned to offer insight into the active strategies Native Americans employed to navigate the changes of the colonial period. Archaeological data can be used to track developments that are not well represented in historical documents, such as long-term adjustments to indigenous social organization, mobility, and economic connections. By examining how Native Americans drew upon existing social and cultural patterns to negotiate increasingly complex interactions with Euro-American colonists, scholars can better understand the autonomy exercised by indigenous societies despite the challenges they faced in the colonial era. Because contemporary notions of Native American sovereignty largely hinge on the events of the colonial period, this research is directly relevant to broader debates about indigenous culture change and the popular and governmental recognition of Native American groups today. It is also relevant to understanding the nature of multi-ethnic interactions which occur in many regions of the contemporary world and how ethnic groups negotiate with and are incorporated into nation states. The project expands the focus of archaeological studies of colonialism beyond European settlements and first contact situations to investigate how native people living outside of direct colonial control selectively engaged with different colonial institutions over time. Drs. Panich and Schneider, along with their research team, will examine these issues on the Pacific Coast of central California, where local Coast Miwok groups lived at the crossroads of the Spanish, Russian, Mexican, and American frontiers. The research is designed to evaluate Native Americans' different strategies for maintaining autonomy at four politically and economically important village sites that were occupied from prehistoric times through the colonial period. Data will be drawn from targeted archaeological investigations, state-of-the-art laboratory analysis of archaeological materials collected during the mid-twentieth century, a GIS database of regional archaeological sites, and a systematic review of relevant ethnographic and historical literature. Working in conjunction with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, the researchers will provide training in archaeological methods to tribal scholars as well as university students. The investigators will work closely with the tribe and local landowners to use the results of the project to develop culturally sensitive stewardship guidelines and public interpretive materials.