Ancient Art Deep in the Southeastern United States
The author has helped document extensive ancient cave art in the Southeastern U.S. Alan Cressler This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under…
Tag: Indigenous
Land Acknowledgments Are Not Enough
The installation “Never Forget” by Nicholas Galanin, a Tlingit and Unangax̂ artist and musician, speaks back to California’s “Hollywood” sign and is a call to action for return…
Allying With Parasites to Fight Industrial Oil Palm
A Ganoderma fungus epidemic attacks oil palm trees at a plantation in Indonesian-controlled West Papua. Sophie Chao In October 2019, I traveled through an oil palm monocrop with…
Do Stolen Sacred Objects Experience Culture Shock?
Early on the gray, dreary, morning of September 23, I landed at the Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., after a 36-hour journey from Kilifi, on Kenya’s coast.…
Paper: Indigenizing digital futures
Budka, P. (2021). Indigenizing digital futures: The case of a web-based environment for remote First Nation communities in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Paper at German Anthropological Association Co…
Archaeology’s Role in Finding Missing Indigenous Children in Canada
A memorial of 104 orange hearts, created by the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation’s Tiwahe (family) Services, stands in honor of missing children from the Brandon Indian Residential School…
Can There Be More African Paleoanthropologists?
Paleoanthropologist Isaiah Nengo, director of science for the Turkana Basin Institute (in a white shirt), oversees a dig site in Turkana County, Kenya. David Gottlieb Aoron Eipa Emmanuel,…
Can Indigenous Language Comics Save a Mother Tongue?
This comic book reimagines the oral traditions of Mexico’s Ñäñho people, introducing mischievous creatures called Tlaloques, which inspired the toy at left. María Gámez Tlaloc is a tempes…
Climate Migrants Are on the Move—And the U.S. Needs Their Help
Farmworkers till soil during this summer’s record-breaking heat wave in Oregon. Nathan Howard/AP Photo Content Warning: The materials presented below contain details of racism and violent…
What Indigenous Languages Reveal About Bear Genetics
[no-caption] Alh1/Flickr This article was originally published at Hakai Magazine and has been republished with permission. Along the central coast of British Columbia, grizzly bears go by…
When Asked if the World Would End They Answer No
A sign marks the Kodiak Baptist Orphanage site on Woody Island, Alaska. Abigail Chabitnoy If you missed the introduction to “When Asked if the World Would End They…
Matrilines
If you missed the introduction to “Matrilines,” you can find it here. Where are the women in this story, Emaq? Only birds lacking fur. [aside,] Grounded birds lack…
Matryoshka Song
If you missed the introduction to “Matryoshka Song,” you can find it here. I put an awl case on my belt around my waste, just like the placard…
Dressing Fish
[no-caption] Abigail Chabitnoy As an Indigenous poet with background studies in anthropology, the more I have reconnected with my culture through poetics, the more I have questioned acade…
Stop Calling the Aleutians Pristine
Most of the Aleutian Islands are today unpopulated. Ariel Taivalkoski The Aleutian Islands, which stretch 1,100 miles across the Bering Sea from the Alaska Peninsula, are commonly describ…
Understanding My Mom’s Unorthodox Healing Practices
Sheets of newspaper cover a portion of the floor of our house in Manila, and on top of those thin pieces of paper sits a white candle, a…
Who is the Nesher Ramla Homo?
This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons. An international group of archaeologists has discovered a missing piece in the story…
When the Guinea Pig Goes Gourmet
“Do you eat guinea pig?” I asked Leonardo. We were perusing the menu in a restaurant in Lima, and I wanted to know what my Peruvian friend thought…
Ethnographic Poetry and Academic Writing: A Reflection
“Whatever your eye can see, it’s vecik.” This line resonated with me while I was conducting my fieldwork in Taiwan with the indigenous Paiwan village known as Paridrayan.…
Chasing the Myths of Mexico’s “Superrunners”
Surrounded by torch-bearing supporters, runners kick a ball as part of a traditional rarajípare racing event practiced by the Rarámuri people of Mexico. Marcos Ferro On a mesa…
Discovering Africa’s Oldest Burial
This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons. Africa is often referred to as the cradle of humankind—the birthplace of our…
How Early Humans Shaped the World With Fire
Ancient humans used fire for warmth and food preparation, but also as a tool to shape the physical environment. Jessica Thompson This article was originally published at The…
The forest spirits who hunt honey
As unbelievable as it seems to me, I’m now in the final 4 weeks of my PhD fieldwork. Technically, anthropology fieldwork is supposed to be around 1 year…
Horizon No Less Curved
Toutswemogala Hill in Botswana. Thato Moahi/Department of National Museum and Monuments, Botswana My poem “Horizon No Less Curved” grew from insights about humanity and history, timelessn…