Department of Anthropology Associate Professor Dr. Jodie O’Gorman and PhD alumni Dr. Jennifer Bengtson and Dr. Amy Michael recently published an article in World Archaeology entitled, “Ancient history and new beginnings: necrogeography and migration in the North American midcontinent.” The article discusses how the use of mortuary space and practices contributed to place-making within the context of a migration episode at a cemetery in west-central Illinois (AD 1300–1400).
Abstract: “Creation of deathscapes is integral to human place-making and the construction of our past, present, and future. As people practice mortuary rituals and related behaviours, space and time are conflated as they engage with spatial, temporal, and ideological aspects of the landscape, existing deathscapes, and ritual objects. Migration episodes offer an important spatio-temporal context for examining the construction of deathscape, and at the same time, insight into the new deathscape practices can help inform the migration event itself. Through the use of a case study with a well-documented migration event and mortuary program data from the North American midcontinent, we examine the intersections of time and space in the construction of deathscape among the post-migration Oneota tradition (ca. AD 1300–1400). In a contentious landscape dominated by Mississippian peoples, the newcomers created ties to their new location by actively creating and practicing new traditions while maintaining important links to their own history.”
Department of Anthropology Associate Professor Dr. Elizabeth Drexler recently published an article in Anthropology Today entitled, “Speaking truth to power in a post-truth era: Multidimensional and intersectional justice.” In the article, Dr. Drexler discusses youth perceptions of the current post-truth era and advocates a comprehensive frame of analysis for justice.
Abstract: “Anthropologists have spoken truth to power in many different forms and cases for decades; nevertheless, the terrain of truth is shifting. How do young people understand the post‐truth present and what does speaking truth to power look like in this era? How might anthropologists look, not simply at the production of knowledge, but at the reception of knowledge claims? What contributions can anthropologists make to forms of engagement and practice that are suited to the current moment? Shifting from a narrow focus on truth and facts, the author considers problems of emergent propaganda and affective responses to narratives and proposes a framework of multidimensional and intersectional justice.”
Department of Anthropology Professor Emeritus Dr. William Lovis and Adjunct Associate Professor Dr. Randolph Donahue recently published an article in the online journal Mesolithic Miscellany entitled, “Teasing spatial structure from Malham Tarn Site A: preliminary analysis of a bioturbated Mesolithic site in North Yorkshire, England.” The article examines the impact of post-depositional processes over multiple millennia on the ability to discern artifact distributions and spatial behaviors at a Mesolithic site in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Abstract: “Malham Tarn Site A is an Early through Late Mesolithic site at moderate altitudes in the Pennines of West Yorkshire, north-central England. The occupation is contained within a variably thick mantle of soil ranging from 10 cm to 1.5 m overlying limestone bedrock. Over several millennia the area of Tarn Site A has been subject to disturbance from human and non-human activities, including deforestation, mole and rabbit excavation, stock pasturing, and avocational collection. Random sampling and block excavation have revealed interpretable activity sets within the site area despite extensive bioturbation. Specifics of both the analysis and the spatial behaviors are presented here suggesting that bioturbation has had limited effect on the spatial distribution of artifacts across the site area.”
The Department of Anthropology congratulates Dr. Chantal Tetreault on winning a coveted Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Award. Dr. Tetreault is an Associate Professor of Anthropology specializing in linguistic and cultural anthropology. Her recent work has primarily focused on issues of migration and social change in France. More generally, her research illuminates how cultural processes of identity construction are achieved through everyday language use.
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program encourages academic and professional experts across disciplines in their international research and/or teaching endeavors. This program selects individuals through a competitive process to help them achieve their ambitious goals. Fulbright prides itself on being the “most widely recognized and prestigious international exchange program in the world.”
Dr. Tetreault’s field site: Chemin de l’Ile in Nanterre, France
Dr. Tetreault’s award will support her research project, “What is Arabic Good For? Future Directions and Current Challenges of Arabic Language Educational Reform in France.” Currently, only 0.2% of all middle and high school students who take a second language in France have access to Arabic, despite it being the second most widely spoken language. In her research, Dr. Tetreault will analyze the ways that Arabic is taught and not taught in France through investigating the types of discourses, institutional gatekeepers, and practitioners influencing the inclusion of Arabic in the French education system. Dr. Tetreault will explore the perspectives of politicians, educational administrators, scholars, teachers, and students to gain insight into the ways these differently positioned individuals interpret the value of Arabic relative to the evolving issues of culture, politics, and education in France.
The educational landscape of Arabic language instruction in France is complex, with ties to a colonial past and a post-colonial present. These relationships continue to play out in terms of France’s immense role in economic, political, and cultural affairs in the Maghreb and the Middle East. However, despite clear geo-political stakes in the Middle East and North Africa and the Arabic language, France has repeatedly failed to make Arabic a national educational priority unlike other European Union countries. Dr. Tetreault’s research will contextualize the French cultural impasse on Arabic language educational reform in terms of the rise of right-wing Islamophobic political discourses. The importance of these public conversations and failed educational reforms goes beyond the scope of language instruction to entail changing understandings of French identity in the context of immigration, globalization, and post-coloniality.
With this award, Dr. Tetreault will travel to France and conduct her research next spring over the course of six months, collaborating with colleagues at the National Institute of Eastern Languages and Civilizations (INALCO). Dr. Tetreault’s analysis of the national debates surrounding Arabic language educational reform in France will be disseminated through a series of articles and a book.
The Department of Anthropology is pleased to announce that Dr. Mara Leichtman has been awarded a prestigious fellowship of the Luce/American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Program in Religion, Journalism & International Affairs. Dr. Leichtman is an Associate Professor of Anthropology affiliated with the Muslim Studies Program, African Studies Center, and Asian Studies Center. Her research interests focus on the interconnections among religion, migration, politics, and economic development through examining Muslim institutions and the communities they serve.
Luce/ACLS Fellowships support scholars in the humanities and social sciences pursuing research on any aspect of religion in international contexts with a desire to convey their specialist knowledge to the media. The Luce/ACLS Fellowships culminate in producing a significant piece of scholarly work and communicating these perspectives to public audiences through collaboration with journalists. Dr. Leichtman’s fellowship will support her research project, “Humanitarian Islam: Transnational Religion and Kuwaiti Development Projects in Africa.”
Sign for a Kuwaiti NGO in Tanzania
Arab Gulf states are surpassing Western development agencies in providing assistance to African countries. Dr. Leichtman’s research will analyze individual, civil society, and state giving in Kuwait through Islamic ethical frameworks as motivations for charity. Case studies of transregional connections with Senegal and Tanzania assess the cultural and religious impact of Gulf funding in Africa while complicating the “giver/receiver” binary. Through exploring Sunni and Shi‘i organizations in Africa, Dr. Leichtman’s project will unpack the politics of Kuwaiti giving by situating the aid apparatus within national, international, historical and contemporary contexts. Media coverage has depicted Africa as another sphere for the Saudi Arabia-Iran rivalry in disseminating Sunni-Shi‘i sectarianism. Based on this research, public writing for media and policy outlets will demonstrate that Iran is not the only Shi‘i player in Africa and that Africans are not simply pawns in Gulf power politics.
Dr. Leichtman is among only six other scholars from across the country to be awarded a fellowship this year. In addition to receiving $63,000 to implement their projects, each fellow will participate in a media training workshop and an annual symposium that brings the scholars into dialogue with renowned journalists to discuss key issues in religion and international affairs. This collaboration will serve to disseminate more nuanced, contextualized, and dynamic understandings of religion in global public life, politics, and policy.
The Luce/ACLS Program in Religion, Journalism & International Affairs is made possible by the generous support of the Henry Luce Foundation.
The Department of Anthropology is pleased to announce that Dr. Heather Howard has been awarded a distinguished 2020–2021 Whiting Public Engagement Fellowship. Dr. Howard (left) is an Associate Professor of Anthropology. Her work focuses on collaborative, community-based, and participatory approaches to research which promote the value of Indigenous knowledge frameworks to scholarship.
The Whiting Public Engagement Program is a national grant that advances scholarly work applying the humanities in ways that benefit communities. The program’s fellowships recognize faculty whose work interacts with the public and brings together discussion on topics of significance. Dr. Howard is one of only six Fellows awarded across the country this year. The fellowship, in the form of $50,000, will support Dr. Howard’s project entitled “Waganakising Quillwork: A Portal to Share Indigenous Knowledge”. With this fellowship, Dr. Howard will engage in a collaborative project with Waganakising Odawak (Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians) to build a digital portal for Waganakising heritage.
The Waganakising Odawak are leaders in encouraging positive relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people while preserving their culture and advancing their self-sufficiency. This portal, and the process of its creation, will initially focus on porcupine quillwork traditions and align with Waganakising initiatives supporting historical and traditional arts knowledge while cultivating intercultural respect and understanding. As a Tribal-governed platform, the portal will be curated by Indigenous historians, makers, and other knowledge-holders of the Waganakising Odawak in Michigan.
Waganakising porcupine quillwork is a beautiful decorative art but is also a significant and profound cultural practice representing Waganakising history, Tribal sovereignty, and environmental conservation. This art embodies the respectful relationships between the human and non-human world which are interwoven in Waganakising oral traditions and storytelling.
These dimensions of the art are brought to the foreground by porcupine quillwork master and teacher Elder Yvonne Walker Keshick (left), who is known not only for her artistry, but also her way of relating that work to responsible gathering and protecting resources, Tribal rights, and the history of regional trade and political negotiations. Quillwork and Waganakising artists like Yvonne Walker Keshick therefore play a central role in perpetuating cultural knowledge and educating non-Indigenous neighbors about respect for Tribal ways of life.
To create this interactive tool, Waganakising historians and knowledge-holders will lead community events with Tribal members to identify heritage objects for including in the portal and to discuss the portal’s design. The project will begin by drawing on materials that are already digitized by the Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Cultures (GRASAC) with further technical support from the MSU Digital Heritage Imaging and Innovation Lab. The Waganakising portal will be a gateway to cultural heritage items and discussions by digitally drawing together materials held across the country and internationally into a centralized, Indigenous community managed platform.
Images:
Upper right – A quill box featuring otters made by Yvonne Walker Keshick using all natural quills. Image courtesy of MSU Museum collections, ID 2017:24.108. Photo by Pearl Yee Wong.
Lower left – Yvonne Walker Keshick with her granddaughter teaching quillwork on birch bark at the Great Lakes Folk Festival, East Lansing, August 8, 2015. Photo by Pearl Yee Wong.
Lower right – An unfinished quill box used for teaching and demonstration, made by Yvonne Walker Keshick using all natural quills. Image courtesy of MSU Museum collections, ID 2017:24.1. Photo by Pearl Yee Wong.
Department of Anthropology PhD students Rhian Dunn, Micayla Spiros, Kelly Kamnikar, and Amber Plemons and Assistant Professor Dr. Joseph Hefner recently published an article in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (WIREs): Forensic Science, titled “Ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology: A review”. The article discusses the methods and future of ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology.
Abstract: “Forensic anthropologists
assist law enforcement agencies and medical examiner’s offices with
investigations involving human remains, providing insight into trauma analysis,
the establishment of postmortem interval, and the estimation of biological
profile data. Ancestry is considered one of the more difficult aspects of the
biological profile, due in large part to the complicated relationship between
skeletal morphology and social constructs. The methods used to estimate
ancestry rely on the correlation between skeletal morphology, geographic
origin, and an individual’s social race. While there is a well-documented
contemptible history associated with the development of ancestry estimation
methods in biological anthropology, many of the more traditional, now
antiquated, methods are still used in some laboratories. The push to improve the
framework within which ancestry data are analyzed requires validation and
reassessment for each method in addition to the development of novel approaches
utilizing modern technological advances. An array of software programs designed
to aid in ancestry estimation is available. These advances do not signal the
end of ancestry-related research. Indeed, several areas seemingly stagnated by
tradition and time require further study through more than simply review and
rarefaction. The future of ancestry estimation research centers on: (a)
abandoning the trait list approach, (b) rejecting the three-group model, (c)
establishing larger and more representative reference data, (d) assessing the
utility of mixed method models, and (e) developing new statistical approaches
and updating current software tools.”
Department of Anthropology Dean’s Research Associate Dr. Gabriel Sanchez recently published an article in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, entitled “Indigenous stewardship of marine and estuarine fisheries?: Reconstructing the ancient size of Pacific herring through linear regression models”. The article discusses reconstructing the size of Pacific herring from archaeological sites in Point Reyes National Seashore, California, and the implications these findings have on understanding ancient fishing practices and indigenous stewardship of the area’s fishery.
Abstract: “Linear regression models constructed from modern fish skeletal collections and applied to archaeological fish remains have a long history in archaeological practice. These data are often employed by researchers to understand ancient human impacts on ichthyofaunas, to consider changes in fishing technologies and techniques, and the effects of environmental change. In this study, I build and apply linear regression formulae of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), a keystone and umbrella forage fish to faunal materials from Point Reyes National Seashore on the central California coast, which date to the Late Holocene. Through the application of these formulae to archaeological Pacific herring skeletal elements, I reconstruct the standard length of ancient Pacific herring. The findings are compared to Pacific herring standard length data gathered by the Californian Department of Fish and Wildlife within Point Reyes and Bodega Bay. These data suggest that Coast Miwok fishers may have used standardized net mesh size to capture Pacific herring selectively. These findings are consistent with expectations from the indigenous coastal management and ecological literature.”
Department of Anthropology Professor Emeritus Dr. William Lovis and colleagues Dr. G. William Monaghan and Dr. Alan Arbogast recently published an article in TheJournal of Island and Coastal Archaeology entitled, “Reconstructing the precontact Late Woodland archaeology of site 20LU115 and the landscape history of Sleeping Bear Point, Great Lakes, USA.” The article discusses the landscape evolution of Sleeping Bear Point, within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park and Lakeshore, and the effects of global climate change on the alteration and management of archaeological sites on the Lake Michigan coastal zone.
Abstract:
“A
multifaceted, multidisciplinary research strategy was employed to reconstruct
the taphonomy and environmental history of a late Holocene coastal
archaeological site (20LU115) at Sleeping Bear Point on the northeast coast of
Lake Michigan, USA. Our case study shows how interdisciplinary examination of
coastal processes that impact archaeological site preservation and destruction
can beneficially integrate human settlement into an evolving landscape. We
contextualize coastal site taphonomy into an environmental framework that
includes changing Lake Michigan lake levels and coastlines, vegetation regimes,
and eolian activation and stabilization cycles during the past 2,000 years.
Chronology for this framework derives from 10 radiocarbon and 12 Optically
Stimulated Luminescence dates from beach ridges, dunes, paleosols, and human
occupation horizons at or near the site. Such research outcomes, however, are
not possible without focusing on the site as part of a larger landscape
history, and could not have been realized without a multidisciplinary design
that integrates geologists, physical geographers, environmental archaeologists,
and cultural resources managers.”
PhD student Emily Milton collecting a water sample in the South-Central Andes
The Department of Anthropology Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Expendable Fund and William A. Lovis Research Fund in Environmental Archaeology were awarded to PhD student Emily Milton. Marking its third year, the Alumni and Friends of Archaeology research award was established to enhance research and learning of undergraduate and graduate students in our archaeology program. This was the inaugural year for the William A. Lovis endowment, which celebrates Dr. Lovis’s commitment to research, specifically to that examining human-environment interactions prior to Euro-American colonization episodes worldwide.
The funds from these awards enabled Milton to travel to Peru
last summer and finish a research project that identifies altitudinal and
seasonal change in oxygen isotopes from surface water in the South-Central
Andes. Archaeologists use water samples to construct an environmental baseline
for isotopic signals in various regions. By establishing an isotopic baseline
for Southern Peru, archaeologists will be able to improve the reliability of
studies that use isotopes from human and animal remains to investigate past
human behavior. Over the past three years, Milton has collected 100 water
samples from the Majes River Drainage system, which will help in understanding
the temporal variation in surface waters.
The William A. Lovis award funded Milton, her advisor, Dr. Kurt Rademaker, and another student to travel from the Peruvian south coast to the Central Andean highlands. Over a three-day sampling period, they collected 49 samples from 50 to 4800 meters above sea level. The Alumni and Friends of Archaeology funds covered airfare for Milton to fly to Peru to continue research on the artifacts from Cuncaicha Rock Shelter and to help excavate two prehistoric high-altitude sites, Pachamachay and Panaulauca.
Milton is currently analyzing the results of her water sampling and hopes to publish the findings soon. These data will allow Milton to launch new investigations into the isotopic composition of the Peruvian highlands, as well as support interpretations of oxygen isotopes from archaeological sites throughout the Majes drainage system. Milton is sincerely grateful for the support from the Anthropology Alumni and Friends of Archaeology Expendable Fund and William A. Lovis Research Fund in Environmental Archaeology.
