The Roots of NAGPRA

NAGPRA and repatriation issues have met with mixed reactions on both sides, Native American and archaeologists, not to mention others. After the couple of years or so you’ve been doing research, is it possible for you to generalize on the status of the repatriation movement? How would you characterize the level of acceptance now as to when you got started?

Texas is on another time track, but it is following the national paradigm.

Flagrant racism is out. Claiming to represent the scientific tradition against the heathens is out.

Asking Indians about their own history is in, unfortunately a couple of generations late.

When my article on the Texas situation was being anonymously refereed by the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, some of the referees thought I was writing about the dark ages and criticized me on that ground. Luckily, both the State Archeologist and the SHPO had left a nice paper trail and I was able to document my charges.

It was in the process of researching my thesis I learned about Larry Zimmerman and the Vermillion Accord and that not all arches were the scum of the earth.

You have to realize that I, as a layman, had no reason to doubt that the State Archeologist spoke for the discipline. How would I know otherwise, until a few arches stepped up past my defensive hostility and told me?

How have your struggles with some members of the archaeological community informed your research?

It has made me a lot more careful.

I always thought—with peer review and all—there was nothing to gain by cheating. I still believe that in the long run, but I know that there are people who either disagree or do not care about the long run.

What do you see as the best possible outcome from the repatriation movement? And, what is the biggest stumbling block toward getting there?

The best possible outcomes would be that arches recognize the right of Indians to tell their own stories in their own ways, that Indian dead are treated with the same respect as Invader dead, and Indians understand the necessity for and usefulness of the scientific method.

The biggest obstacle is history.

The older generation of arches remembers a time of no limits, NO limits, and really is not on the bus with repatriation.

And I know this is going to pucker some assholes, but racism is still an issue. My skin is light enough that I find this out every now and then up close and personal. And, yes, every time it happens it shocks me.

And the older generation of Indians? To them, science has just been another weapon used against them. They see no benefit to it. If you think even medical science has been of much use, check out the annual reports of the Indian Health Service. And if you want to know why those numbers show what they show, visit an IHS clinic.

There seems to be a generation gap in archaeology, and that is encouraging. Even some Indians are getting into it, and I suppose that is good for repatriation issues. But the numbers of Indians making it to higher education are so tiny, making arches of them seems kind of wasteful. No offense meant, but there are some other issues we have to deal with requiring higher education.

As one who did not finish a year of high school and now holds three degrees, I have got to tell you that the miserable education statistics of Indians are a direct result of cultural differences as well as purposeful neglect. Indian kids are not dumb, but most of them believe they are before they hit high school. I did.

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