Winner of the 2019 Mark E. Mack Community Engagement Award from the Society for Historical Archaeology, the collaborative archaeology project at the former Stewart Indian School documents the archaeology and history of a heritage project at a boarding school for American Indian children in the Western United States. In Collaborative Archaeology at Stewart Indian School, the team’s collective efforts shed light on the children’s education, foodways, entertainment, health, and resilience in the face of the U.S. government’s attempt to forcibly assimilate Native populations at the turn of the twentieth century, as well as school life in later years after reforms.
This edited volume addresses the theory, methods, and outcomes of collaborative archaeology conducted at the Stewart Indian School site and is a genuine collective effort between archaeologists, former students of the school, and other tribal members. With more than twenty contributing authors from the University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada Indian Commission, Washoe Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and members of Washoe, Paiute, and Shoshone tribes, this rich case study is strongly influenced by previous work in collaborative and Indigenous archaeologies. It elaborates on those efforts by applying concepts of governmentality (legal instruments and practices that constrain and enable decisions, in this case, regarding the management of historical populations and modern heritage resources) as well as social capital (valued relations with others, in this case, between Native and non-Native stakeholders).
As told through the trials, errors, shared experiences, sobering memories, and stunning accomplishments of a group of students, archaeologists, and tribal members, this rare gem humanizes archaeological method and theory and bolsters collaborative archaeological research.
Foreword: Digging into Indian Education
Joe Watkins
A Multivocal Collaboration Story
Sarah E. Cowie, Diane L. Teeman, Christopher C. LeBlanc, Terri McBride, and Ashley M. Long
Theoretical Approaches to Collaborative Archaeology
Diane L. Teeman, Sarah E. Cowie, Christopher C. LeBlanc and Ashley M. Long
Consensus in Research Design, and Studying Institutions, Education, and Childhood
Ashley M. Long, Sarah E. Cowie, and Christopher C. LeBlanc
Indian Education in Nevada (1890–2015): A Legacy of Change
Alex K. Ruuska
History and Daily Life at the Stewart Campus
Bonnie Thompson-Hardin
Stewart Indian School Methods and Research Results
Ashley M. Long, Sarah E. Cowie, and Ian Springer
Reflexive, Multivocal Interpretations of Stewart Indian School, and Best Practices in Heritage Management
Richard Arnold, Patrick Burtt, Sarah E. Cowie, Darrel Cruz, Eric DeSoto, Debra Harry, A. J. Johnson, Mark Johnson, Dania Jordan, Christopher C. LeBlanc, Ashley M. Long, Jo Ann Nevers, Sherry L. Rupert and Chris A. Gibbons, Diane L. Teeman, and Lonnie P. Teeman, Sr.
Concluding Lessons from Stewart Indian School: Governmentality and Social Capital in Best Practices
Diane L. Teeman, Sarah E. Cowie, Terri McBride, Ashley M. Long, and Christopher C. LeBlanc
Acknowledgments
About the Contributors