An Anthropology of Remembering Queer Theory, Collaborative Archaeology, & the Apalachea past

Lee Bloch

Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Baram, Uzi

Keywords

Native American Studies, Gender Studies, Collaborative Methods

Area of Concentration

Anthropology

Abstract

This thesis examines the potential of queering and decolonizing archaeology with a focus on the Apalachee past. The first chapter examines the Mississippian-era Lake Jackson site, outlining queer and Indigenist critiques of Southeastern archaeology. Based on collaborative research with a Muskogee community, I further an interpretation of the so-called �Birdman� or �Birdwoman� of the SECC as a gender-neutral anthropomorphic moth. The second chapter discusses 17th century Mission San Luis, using engendered and historical archaeological methods. I suggest that jewelry found discarded in a trash pit reflects the identity politics of an Apalachee woman and her Spanish lover, situating this interpretation in a discussion of the conflicts over gender, sexuality, and kinship practices in multicultural San Luis. In the third chapter, I discuss my visits to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, and the National Museum of the American Indian, drawing on self-reflective methods. I find that even in these spaces of Native heritage, hegemonic gender/sex paradigms are always encroaching. In breaking the gender binary and decolonizing history-making, this text explores alternative possibilities in the past as a means of emancipation in the present.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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