Image is the property of Sara Gonzalez and is used here with permission. You must contact Sara Gonzalez for permission to use this image.

Description: An archaeologist by training, I work at the inter­sec­tion of tribal his­toric preser­va­tion, colo­nial stud­ies, and pub­lic his­tory. My research specif­i­cally exam­ines how community-based par­tic­i­pa­tory approaches to research improves the empir­i­cal and inter­pre­tive qual­ity of archae­o­log­i­cal nar­ra­tives, while also sit­u­at­ing archae­ol­ogy within a more respect­ful and engaged prac­tice. As a core fea­ture of this work I am explor­ing the diverse appli­ca­tions of minimally invasive field methods and dig­i­tal media as tools for con­tribut­ing to the capac­ity of tribal com­mu­ni­ties to man­age their his­toric and envi­ron­men­tal resources. This work cen­ters on my ongo­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion with tribal communities in California, Oregon, and Washington. In con­junc­tion with these projects I have devel­oped mul­ti­ple class­room, lab, and field school pro­grams that pro­vide under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate stu­dents with the oppor­tu­nity to par­tic­i­pate directly in research with tribal com­mu­ni­ties that con­tributes to their capac­ity to study, man­age, and rep­re­sent their heritage.

This work centers on my ongoing collaboration with the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians at Fort Ross State Historic Park (FRSHP), a former Russian-American Company mercantile settlement (1812-1841) in northern California. The settlement was founded within the Kashaya’s homeland, Metini. Community-based participatory research with both the tribal community and the California Department of Parks and Recreation has been used to create an archaeology that works for the tribal community, is conducted in accordance with their cultural values and that, ultimately, empowers them in the management of Kashaya heritage within Metini.

Since joining the faculty at the University of Washington, Seattle in 2013 I ini­ti­ated a new, multi-year community-based part­ner­ship with the Con­fed­er­ated Tribes of Grand Ronde Com­mu­nity of Ore­gon (CTGR) and their Tribal His­toric Preser­va­tion Office (THPO). The goal of this col­lab­o­ra­tion is twofold: first, to document the development of the 19th century Grand Ronde reservation landscape and, sec­ond, to con­tribute to the capac­ity of the CTGR THPO to man­age tribal cul­tural resources on its reser­va­tion lands.

Links:

• Pacific Northwest Archaeology Blog
• Department of Anthropology  Bio