Cultural Resource Management (CRM) employs an estimated 90% of all professional archaeologists in the United States, and the field is set to rapidly grow with the initiation of the Infrastructure Bill passed in 2022. Though the majority of archaeological studies conducted within CRM focus on Native American "sites" that were occupied prior to the arrival of Europeans, CRM as an industry has failed to include Indigenous perspectives when deciding which archaeological sites are significant, the methods we should use to identify and evaluate these sites, and what should be preserved. Simply put, this is incomplete science. Without Indigenous perspectives, we are missing what is arguably the most important piece of the puzzle, we fail to grasp the full picture of prehistoric and historical processes that led to the preservation of archaeological sites, and we also fail to properly identify archaeological resources that may not be visible through traditional archaeological field methods. Because less than one percent of archaeologists in the US identify as Indigenous, it is crucial that those of us who hold the majority in archaeology (mainly White archaeologists) do not speak for Indigenous peoples but, instead, take on the burden of this change by holding ourselves, our fellow archaeologists, clients and our collaborators accountable for centering Indigenous perspectives in archaeological research.

Date: Wednesday, March 6
Time: 6 - 7 p.m.
Location: Zoom, Meeting ID: 883 7934 6328 Passcode: AnthDay24