Doctoral Dissertation Research: Gender at the Nunalleq Site: Community Perspectives from Quinhagak, Alaska

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this project is to collect information about gender and Yup'ik lifeways of the past from residents of Quinhagak, Alaska, and to apply this knowledge to archaeological interpretations of social life at the pre-contact site of Nunalleq. Interviews with Yup'ik residents of Quinhagak will focus on how Yup'ik communities defined gender in the past, and how gendered identities may be visible archaeologically in the artifacts and built spaces of Nunalleq. Using community knowledge as the cornerstone for archaeological interpretations ensures that Yup'ik perspectives are honored in the research process and that gendered social identities are considered in a complex and contextual manner. As a community-based project, this research is part of a larger disciplinary movement towards Indigenous community involvement in the planning and implementation of archaeological projects and the interpretation and analysis of resultant data. The benefits of such approaches are myriad: not only does community-based research attend to the specific needs and conditions of Indigenous communities (many of whom are marginalized), but such strategies often result in more robust and publically-relevant research questions and analysis. Together, the Nunalleq site and the neighboring community of Quinhagak provide a unique opportunity for community-based research on gender. Located just a few miles outside of Quinhagak, Nunalleq has long been a fixture in local histories, and its links to the 13th-17th century Bow and Arrow wars connect it to a broader regional heritage that has been little explored. Nunalleq has been subject to remarkable permafrost preservation, with artifacts of unusual quality being recovered in very high numbers. The confluence of having high-quality archaeological data alongside a community with knowledge of and interest in the site creates an ideal setting for community-based research on gender and social identities, themes that are best explored with robust archaeological and oral historical data. That themes of gender and social identity have received little attention in regional archaeological studies further suggests the importance of this study, as does Nunalleq's status as an archaeological resource increasingly threatened by environmental change.