Equity in American Archaeology
Overview
In this module, we further explore gender inequity as well as the underrepresentation
of people of color in the profession, discussing historical and current
barriers.
Lesson Objectives/Reading Journal Topics
- Define and explain gender and ethnic inequities in American archaeology.
Identify concrete actions that can be taken to achieve equity.
Matrix Principles
Social Relevance (identification of gender and ethnic biases, their
sources and effects) and Diverse Interests (with greater representation
in the field, descendant groups have a greater say in the study and
depiction of their archaeological past).
Instructional procedures
Class 1
Readings
Hutson, Scott
1998 Institutional
and Gender Effects on Academic Hiring Practices. SAA Bulletin
16(4).
Franklin, Maria
1997 Why Are There So Few Black American Archaeologists? Antiquity
71(274):799-801.
Warburton, Miranda
2002 Ethnic Equity in Archaeology: A View from the Navajo Nation Archaeology
Department. SAA Archaeological Record 2(4):20-23. (Complete
issue available at http://www.saa.org/Publications/thesaaarchrec/sep02.pdf.)
Watkins, Joe
2002 Marginal Native, Marginal Archaeologist: Ethnic Disparity in American
Archaeology. SAA Archaeological Record 2(4):36-37. (Complete
issue available at http://www.saa.org/Publications/thesaaarchrec/sep02.pdf.)
Format: Discussion
We first discuss Hutson’s article, which presents and analyzes
the statistics on women in archaeology. He demonstrates that although
there is increasing participation of women in the field, inequities
still exist. We then consider Franklin’s article on the very low
percentage of African Americans in archaeology and her observation that
archaeology has not been seen as very relevant to African American history
(a perception that would change with more projects on the African American
past and increasing outreach). Watkins briefly but clearly lays out
the historical reasons for the underrepresentation of Native Americans
in archaeology in the U.S. (the colonial past, the perception of Native
Americans as specimens or objects of study, the insistence on a “scientific”
versus historical or contextual approach with archaeology developing
as a subfield within anthropology). Watkins, like Warburton, also acknowledges
the potential difficulties faced by a Native American archaeologist
both within the profession and among Native Americans and how these
difficulties are addressed (outreach, greater access to higher education,
tribal archaeology programs run by tribal members).