Scott Ortman is Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, and SAR’s 2020 Weatherhead fellow.
For the past six years, Ortman has had the honor to partner with the Pueblo of Pojoaque in a joint investigation of ancestral sites in the Pojoaque area. Through this partnership, Ortman learned important lessons regarding the potential of archaeology for tribal communities; how archaeologists and tribal members can work together as co-investigators; how such partnerships improve and decolonize archaeological practice; and how the incorporation of traditional knowledge leads to better archaeology in both its humanistic and social scientific dimensions. In the process, Ortman also had the opportunity to engage with Native philosophy and to understand the issues facing the Pojoaque and other Native communities today. In this talk, he explores a key tension emerging from these experiences and discusses some of its counter-intuitive implications for archaeological practice. He illustrates these points using results from work at K’uuyemugeh and other ancestral sites in the Pojoaque area.
This event is part of the 2020 fall scholar colloquia series.
Each year, incoming resident scholars introduce their work to the SAR community through a presentation and Q&A. This year’s talks are hosted online and continue to be free and open to the public. Registration is required.
See the full series here.