Abstract
The lack of diversity in the archaeological community is worsened by the sense of exclusivity created at the meeting of archaeological practice and descendant communities. The authors’ work, carried out in partnership with Indo-Hispano/a communities in New Mexico, attempts to counteract this steep gradient of inclusion through the incorporation, professionalization, and leadership of our research collaborators. Our work confronts historical paradigms denying the significance of late colonial and Mexican period community-making in the Southwest, bringing to light the problematic nature of prior historical silences for their propagation of essentialist notions of indigeneity. The dehistoricization of the Indo-Hispano/a political, social, and economic present can be combated by archaeologies that emphasize community priorities for the direction of research. Central to such commitments is an archaeological praxis which not only fully recognizes the political nature of the work, but translates that potential through a cooperative program of action and inclusion.
Extracto
La falta de diversidad en la comunidad arqueológica se ve agravada por el sentido de exclusividad creado en el encuentro de la práctica arqueológica y las comunidades descendientes. El trabajo de los autores, realizado en asociación con las comunidades indo-hispanas en Nuevo México, intenta contrarrestar este fuerte gradiente de inclusión a través de la incorporación, profesionalización y liderazgo de nuestros colaboradores en la investigación. Nuestro trabajo confronta paradigmas históricos que niegan la importancia de la creación de comunidades del período colonial tardío y mexicano en el suroeste, sacando a la luz la naturaleza problemática de los silencios históricos previos por su propagación de las nociones esencialistas de indigeneidad. La deshistorización del presente político, social y económico indo-hispano puede ser combatida por arqueologías que enfatizan las prioridades comunitarias para la dirección de la investigación. Para tales compromisos es fundamental una praxis arqueológica que no solo reconozca plenamente la naturaleza política del trabajo, sino que traduzca ese potencial a través de un programa cooperativo de acción e inclusión.
Résumé
L'absence de diversité dans la communauté archéologique est aggravée par le sentiment d'exclusivité résultant d'une rencontre entre la pratique archéologique et les communautés héritières. Le travail des auteurs mené à bien dans le cadre d'un partenariat avec les communautés indo-hispaniques de New Mexico, s'efforce de combattre ce gradient puissant d'inclusion au moyen de l'incorporation, de la professionnalisation et du leadership de nos collaborateurs de recherche. Notre travail confronte les paradigmes historiques niant la signification de la création de communauté à la fin de la période coloniale et mexicaine dans le Sud-Ouest, mettant en lumière la nature problématique des silences historiques antérieurs pour leur propagation de notions essentialistes d'indigénéité. La négation historique du présent économique, social et politique Indo-hispanique peut être combattue par des archéologies mettant l'accent sur les priorités communautaires pour la direction de la recherche. Au centre de ces engagements se trouve une praxis archéologique qui reconnaît non seulement pleinement la nature politique du travail, mais traduit aussi ce potentiel au moyen d'un programme coopératif d'action et d'inclusion.
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Notes
We follow Lamadrid (2003) in capitalizing both parts of “Indo-Hispano/a” in recognition of many New Mexicans’ fluid self-representations in opposition to binaries of typology. We recognize significant literature on representationalism in labels, such as “Latinx” or “Hispanic” (for example, see Alcoff [2005]), but instead focus on the New Mexican contexts in which our community partners have invited us to work. Though we are inclined to err on the side of greater inclusivity, we do not choose to adopt the variant “Indo-Hispanx” here, as there is as yet no consensus among our community partners about its use.
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Sunseri, J., Gonzalez, A. Honoring and Embodying the Mandate of Community-Accountable Archaeology: Perspectives from the Indo-Hispano/a Southwest. Hist Arch 54, 738–755 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-020-00263-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-020-00263-3