KEEP CALM AND DECOLONIZE
THE SAA TASK FORCE ON DECOLONIZATION
Dorothy Lippert, Michael Wilcox, Larry J. Zimmerman, Wendy Teeter,
George Nicholas, Lindsay M. Montgomery, Randall McGuire,
Patricia A. McAnany, Margaret Conkey, and Chip Colwell
Dorothy Lippert (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is a tribal liaison in the Repatriation Program at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Michael Wilcox (Yuman descent) is a senior lecturer in Native American studies and archaeology at Stanford University, and the cultural resource officer for the
Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. Wendy Teeter is the senior curator of archaeology and repatriation coordinator at the Fowler Museum
at UCLA. Larry J. Zimmerman is a professor emeritus of anthropology and museum studies at Indiana University (IUPUI). George Nicholas is a professor of
archaeology at Simon Fraser University. Lindsay M. Montgomery is an assistant professor in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona.
Randall McGuire is a SUNY Distinguished Professor at Binghamton University. Patricia A. McAnany is the Kenan Eminent Professor and chair of the
Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Margaret Conkey is a professor emerita of anthropology and an affiliate of the
Archaeological Research Facility at the University of California, Berkeley. Chip Colwell is an archaeologist and the editor-in-chief of SAPIENS.
D
uring summer of 2020, the Society
for American Archaeology Board
of Directors established a task force
charged with advising the board on actions
the SAA can take to promote decolonization in
our profession. This mandate is aligned with
long-standing concerns raised by Indigenous
and other disenfranchised or minoritized
groups and responds to recent events surrounding the ethical role(s) of the Society. In this
article, the first of a planned series, we explain
how this task force came into being and its mandate, we explore concepts of “decolonization”—a complicated
term, with varying definitions—and related topics, and we identify key areas for consideration and intervention relative to the
SAA and, more generally, within the discipline of archaeology.
The What and Why of the Task Force
Although in recent years the SAA has made more determined
efforts to promote inclusivity and equity in the organization, the
board has been reminded by several recent controversies that
colonization and its attendant power asymmetries remain a persistent issue. In particular, an unfortunate SAA communication
in June 2020 regarding the University of California’s draft Native
American Cultural Affiliation and Repatriation Policy (https://
www.saa.org/quick-nav/saa-media-room/saa-news/2020/06/24/
statement-concerning-calnagpra; Brunso and Sieg 2021; Sieg
and Brunso 2021) alienated a network of Indigenous and nonIndigenous scholars within archaeology and related fields, as well
as members of Native American Tribal Nations and Indigenous
communities. In response, the Indigenous Archaeology Collective
(IAC; Twitter @IndigArchs) openly criticized the content of
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The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2021
and protocols behind the SAA’s statement
(ht t p://newsfromnat iveca lifor nia.com/
op e n - le t te r-f rom - t he -i nd i ge nou s archaeology-collective/), and on June 28,
2020, the IAC sent a detailed letter to the SAA
board with a range of concerns, demands,
and suggestions relating to SAA governance,
annual meeting structure, and the practice of
North American archaeology more broadly.
The SAA board determined that many of these
suggestions could best be studied by a Task
Force on Decolonization (TFD) in North American Archaeology.
IAC members Dorothy Lippert, Wendy Teeter, and Michael Wilcox
met with the board several times to discuss the TFD’s structure, role,
and charge. They agreed that Lippert and Wilcox would co-chair the
TFD with Teeter’s support. The task force is charged with advising
the board on actions the SAA can take to promote decolonization in
our profession, including but not limited to overseeing a resource
guide for members and educators, crafting proposals to expand
membership of and event participation by Indigenous archaeologists, and other member suggestions communicated to the society
in the June 28, 2020, petition from the IAC.
TFD members now include Larry Zimmerman, Randall McGuire,
Margaret Conkey, Patricia McAnany, George Nicholas, Lindsay
Montgomery, and Chip Colwell. (Davina Two Bears [Fort Lewis
College] has rotated off the TFD.) All TFD members have substantial experience with issues associated with settler colonialism and
decolonization in the North American context and all have published on these topics. TFD members recognize that the process
of decolonization will entail questioning and self-reflection rather
KEEP CALM AND DECOLONIZE
Table 1. UNDRIP articles with special relevance to archaeology.
UNDRIP Article
Contents
Article 11.1
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future
manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies,
technologies and visual and performing arts and literature.
Article 11.2
States shall provide redress through effective mechanisms, which may include restitution, developed in
conjunction with Indigenous peoples, with respect to their cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property
taken without their free, prior and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs.
Article 12.1
Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop and teach their spiritual and religious
traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect and have access in privacy to their religious
and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation
of their human remains.
Article 15.1
Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and
aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.
Article 26.3
States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources (traditionally
owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired). Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the
customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the Indigenous peoples concerned.
than straightforward solutions. As a result, the role and membership of TFD are likely to change as this process evolves.
As TFD members discovered during initial meetings, opinions
about what decolonization means for archaeology vary, as do interpretations of the TFD’s charge and even the precise name of the
task force. However, we agreed that an important first step in this
process entails a long overdue examination and revision of the
SAA Principles of Archaeological Ethics to include the centrality of
Indigenous peoples in the research process. Right now, Indigenous
peoples are mentioned as part of “Public Education and Outreach”
(Principle 4) and not at all within Principle 1 (Stewardship) or
Principle 2 (Accountability). The absence of Indigenous peoples
from Principles 1 and 2 promotes unequal power relationships
between Indigenous communities and archaeologists as the
primary arbiters of ethical, legal, and scholarly discourse and
praxis surrounding Indigenous cultural patrimony. The principles badly need updating in ways that recognize the sovereignty
of Indigenous communities and reflect the growing centrality of
collaborative community-based ethics in archaeological practice.
As one step in this direction, the SAA and our profession are strongly
encouraged to acknowledge the centrality of Indigenous communities to the practice of archaeology by incorporating in their practice
the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People
(UNDRIP; https://undocs.org/A/RES/61/295)—especially five key
articles (Table 1).
The TFD can assist the SAA in developing venues for providing thoughtful guidance to members on issues related to these
Indigenous rights. Such guidance would be a significant contribution because implementing UNDRIP is a formidable task. Signatory
countries are only now starting to realize the profound implications
of UNDRIP for law, policy, and protocol. In 2010, President Barack
Obama announced that the United States would support the UNDRIP.
Subsequently, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation drafted
a plan to support UNDRIP, noting intersections with Section 106
of the National Historic Preservation Act in the United States
(https://www.achp.gov/indian-tribes-and-native-hawaiians/
united-nations-declaration-rights-indigenous-peoples).
In addition, the TFD recently met with SAA president Joe
Watkins, president-elect Deborah Nichols, and board member
(and TFD board liaison) Kelley Hays-Gilpin, and proposed that
the board consider approval of the following four statements to
inform SAA members about the TFD’s role:
(1)
That decolonization refers to the process of
deconstructing colonial ideologies that purport the
inherent superiority and privilege of Western thought,
values, and behavior (Figure 1).
(2) That decolonization cannot effectively be actualized
through an imposed, top-down process and that the
board therefore encourages all its members to reflect on
the discipline’s complicity with colonizing forces, and to
assist in the work of decolonization.
(3) That the board and task force seek member
suggestions, which can be communicated to the task
force co-chairs, any task force member, or at several
listening sessions being planned by the task force.
(4) That the Board of Directors of the Society for American
Archaeology (SAA) advocates and supports efforts to
decolonize the SAA as an organization and archaeology
as a discipline.
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KEEP CALM AND DECOLONIZE
The TFD has already begun work on several of the activities
suggested in the charge. We have met jointly with members
of the Committee on Ethics, Committee on Native American
Relations, Task Force on Social Justice in Archaeology, and
Committee on Repatriation to discuss topics of overlapping
interest and possibilities for mutual support. We are organizing listening sessions to take place in the near future,
including one on June 5, 2021, with details to be announced
soon by the SAA.
The TFD has also begun planning ways to organize and provide
access to resource materials related to decolonizing archaeology as a discipline. To this end, we met with Chris Rodning,
editor of the Record, who is supportive of publishing a regular
column on “Decolonizing Archaeology.” Future contributions
to the Record will be both conceptual and practical, along with
case studies, with columns sometimes written by committee
members but also by others seeking decolonization of both our
discipline and the SAA as an organization. We have organized
listening sessions and have actively solicited comments in other
ways to expand the ideas, source materials, and suggestions for
other approaches.
Developing a Decolonization Primer: A Preface,
Not a Conclusion
Decolonization is as much a process as it is a goal; as
much a political act as one of renewal and revitalization. It is also a reassertion of Indigenous identity and
intent in moving towards a desired but still-elusive
postcolonial world [Schaepe et al. 2020:63].
Archaeology has changed significantly in response to new technologies, new research questions, and the changing composition of
its practitioners (Figure 2). Among other important developments,
the discipline has become increasingly culturally diverse; repatriation, both legislated and voluntary, is now expected and largely
accepted; feminist, Indigenous, and other perspectives are now
a more familiar part of archaeology; the trope of “archaeologists
versus Indigenous groups” has been considerably weakened; and
collaborative projects are increasingly commonplace.
However, despite strenuous efforts by many, archaeology remains
entangled within a legacy of scientific colonialism, especially in
terms of decision making. Such questions as Whose heritage is
it?, Who should benefit from research?, and Who should determine what happens to it? are too often answered with “not the
descendant communities.” At the same time, we are increasingly
situated at the nexus of challenging debates over such topics as
open versus restricted access to data, knowledge versus justice,
and universal access versus culture-based rights.
In exploring how and why many are dissatisfied with archaeology
and related fields, efforts to decolonize—and indeed even to know
what that means (Table 2)—will require considerable effort and
patience. Indeed, the task we face in working toward this goal is
enormous. Fully recognizing, respecting, and protecting heritage,
Figure 1. “Settler, Please,” reimagined BC Stop of Interest sign from Joanne Hammond’s #rewriteBC project (used with permission;
https://culturallymodified.org/decolonizing-bcs-roadside-history/, http://publicofarchaeology.ca/rewritebc).
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The SAA Archaeological Record • May 2021
KEEP CALM AND DECOLONIZE
Table 2. Key terms in the discourse of decolonization.
Decolonization: the process of deconstructing colonial
ideologies of the superiority and privilege of Western thought
and approaches.
Indigenization: a process of naturalizing Indigenous
knowledge systems and making them evident to transform
spaces, places, and hearts.
Reconciliation: addressing past wrongs done to Indigenous
Peoples, making amends, and improving relationships
between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to create a
better future for all.
Source: Antoine et al. 2019.
Figure 2. Capacity building in Indigenous archaeology and heritage
management addresses an essential need by Indigenous peoples. The
program developed by the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society and
Simon Fraser University at its campus on the Kamloops Indian Reserve
in British Columbia (1990–2010) offered classroom and field school training in
archaeology to several hundred students. Many have gone on to full- or part-time
work in archaeology, including for their nations. (Photo by George Nicholas.)
decolonization of our profession of archaeology. However, we
recognize that the work of decolonization is also much larger
than any single task force. We need the active participation of
the entire Society. In order for the TFD to provide realistic and
clear advice to the SAA board, we need your help. We invite and
welcome your participation in the process!
Please contact the TFD via e-mail at saa dot decolonization at
gmail dot com.
References Cited
especially that of minority groups, is more than an issue of academic interest. It is bound up with challenging questions about
consent, sovereignty, and jurisdiction; about social justice and
human rights; and about how all descendant groups can most
effectively control access to and benefit from their own heritage.
Although UNDRIP offers hope, there is substantial uncertainty as
to if, when, and how its provisions will be implemented.
Calls to decolonize archaeology are not new, but today they have
become frequent, loud, and global. However, colonization has
been a persistent socioeconomic and political structure in settler countries in North America and elsewhere around the world
for the past 500 years. Decolonizing such an entrenched system
will inevitably require vigilance and will be a continuing source
of misunderstanding and sometimes even necessary confrontations and essential tensions.
The task force aims to provide a report to the board, providing specific recommendations to be undertaken in support of
Antoine, Asma-na-hi, Rachel Mason, Roberta Mason, Sophia Palahicky,
and Carmen Rodriquez de France
2019 Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers. BC
Campus, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. https://opentextbc.
ca/indigenizationcurriculumdevelopers/, accessed March 24, 2021.
Brunso, Karen, and Lauren Sieg
2021 The Path Forward: Rewriting the SAA Statement
Concerning the Treatment of Human Remains. SAA
Archaeological Record 21(1):5–7. http://onlinedigeditions.com/
publication/?m=16146&i=690748&view=articleBrowser&
article_id=3860934, accessed April 21, 2021.
Schaepe, David, George Nicholas, and Kierstin Dolata
2020 Recommendations for Decolonizing British Columbia’s
Heritage-Related Processes and Legislation. Report prepared
for the First Peoples’ Cultural Council. https://fpcc.ca/resource/
recommendations-for-decolonizing-b-c-s-heritage-relatedprocesses-and-legislation/, accessed March 24, 2021.
Sieg, Lauren, and Karen Brunso
2021 Roadmaps, Research, and Reflection: Drafting the New
Statement Concerning the Treatment of Human Remains. SAA
Archaeological Record 21(2):14–18, 21. http://onlinedigeditions.com/
publication/?m=16146&i=700116&p=16, accessed April 21, 2021.
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