NORTHEAST ANTHROPOLOGY
Abstracts: Issue 73

Issue 73 Spring 2007

The editorial comment for issue number 73 can be found at the end of this page.

ARTICLES

Pages
1-15 Public Archaeology and Education in Research and Compliance Projects: An Introduction

Christina B. Rieth
Public education and outreach are important components of research and compliance projects. The integration of diverse constituencies in public outreach and education, however, is not without its drawbacks. This paper provides an introduction to recent public archaeology and education projects in the Northeast and discusses how various constituencies have been incorporated into these projects. The paper focuses on the importance of these efforts and the need to involve the public in archaeological projects.

L'éducation et la sensibilisation du public sont des facettes importantes dans les mandats de projets de recherche archéologiques. L'intégration de divers intervenants pour la sensibilisation et l'éducation du public comporte toutefois des inconvénients. Cet article nous présente des projets récents d'archéologie publique dans le Nord-Est et traite de la façon que s'y articulent les intervenants. L'accent est mis sur l'importance des efforts d'intégration des intervenants et le besoin d'impliquer le public dans les projets archéologiques.

17-31 Teaching Our Teachers: A Case Study in Public Archaeology

Christina B. Rieth and Kristy Primeau
Today, archaeologists are realizing the need for dialogue with members of local communities, as well as citizens of areas where archaeology may occur less frequently. One way to reach a wide audience is through teachers. This paper concentrates on the role that K-12 education plays in the process of archaeological understanding and discusses recent efforts to educate teachers about the importance of archaeology and the need for archaeological education in parochial curricula. It describes the importance of these activities and uses a case study from a recent teacher workshop as evidence for the need for educational outreach.

Les archéologues réalisent maintenant la nécessité d'un dialogue, autant avec les membres des communautés locales qu'avec les citoyens des endroits oj se manifeste moins souvent l'archéologie. Une bonne façon d'atteindre un large public est B travers les enseignants. Cet article se concentre sur le rôle que joue l'enseignement pré-collégial dans le processus de compréhension de l'archéologie. On y traite d'efforts récents pour éduquer les enseignants sur l'importance de l'archéologie et d'une éducation archéologique dans un curriculum souvent sectaire. Enfin, on y présente le cas récent d'un atelier d'enseignement qui témoigne de la nécessité de la sensibilisation du milieu de l'éducation.

33-41 Approaching Relevance: Public Outreach and Education in CRM

Hope E. Luhman
Public relevance should be a focus of every archaeological investigation conducted in a cultural resource management (CRM) context. Using examples and suggested approaches as to how information obtained from such investigations can be made accessible to the public, it is recommended that public relevance is best addressed through meaningful interaction with professional archaeologists. While the nature of the interaction may vary from the short site tour linking the lessons of archaeology with the present to interactive educational programs in which local residents experience their region's heritage, this paper examines the contribution and relevance of such programs as public anthropology.

L'intérLt public devrait Ltre l'un des points de mire de toute investigation archéologique conduite dans un cadre de gestion des ressources culturelles. Avec des exemples et des suggestions d'approches sur la façon de rendre accessible au public l'information obtenue B partir de telles investigations, nous mettons de l'avant l'idée que c'est B travers une interaction avec les archéologues professionnels que la question de l'intérLt public est la mieux abordée. Alors que la nature de cette interaction peut varier d'une courte visite d'un site, qui fait le lien entre la pertinence de l'archéologie et le temps présent, B un programme éducatif interactif, oj les résidents locaux vivent l'expérience de leur patrimoine régional, cet article examine la contribution et la pertinence de tels programmes en tant qu'anthropologie publique.

43-60 New York Odyssey: Forging Partnerships in American Archaeological Outreach

Sherene Baugher
Public archaeology has changed from being synonymous with cultural resource management to implying archaeological outreach and community partnerships. This article chronicles the transformations in public archaeology and how it impacted the work of the author since 1980. The article also presents two community projects by the author and her students from Cornell University. At Robert H. Treman State Park, archaeologists, park staff, and community members work together to provide outreach programs including site tours and permanent exhibits. On the Inlet Valley Project, archaeologists worked with planners, landscape architects, Cayuga Indians, and Tutelo Indians to create a commemorative town park.

L'archéologie publique a subi une transformation, passant d'un synonyme de la gestion des resources culturelles vers un effort qui sous-entend une sensibilisation auprPs de la population et de partenariats au sein de la communauté. Cet article fait la chronique des changements survenus au sein de l'archéologie publique et montre comment ils ont influencé le travail de l'auteure depuis 1980. Il présente également deux projets communautaires réalisés par l'auteure et ses étudiants de Cornell University. D'une part, au Robert H. Treman State Park, les archéologues, le personnel du parc et les membres de la communauté travaillent ensemble afin d'offrir un programme de sensibilisation qui inclut des visites du site et des expositions permanentes. D'autre part, dans le projet Inlet Valley, les archéologues ont oeuvré avec les promotteurs, les architectes paysagers, les Cayugas et les Tutelos afin de créer un parc urbain commémoratif.

61-67 Comments on Public Education in the Northeast

Beverly A. Chiarulli
This paper discusses the papers presented during the symposium on "Public Outreach and Education in Northeast Compliance Projects." A critique of public outreach and education in the Northeast is provided.

Cet article fait la revue critique des présentations du symposium sur la sensibilisation et l'éducation publique dans les projets archéologiques de gestion des ressources culturelles dans le Nord-Est.

69-95 At the Top of the Hierarchy of Charity: the Life of Retired Seamen at Sailors' Snug Harbor, Staten Island, New York

Sherene Baugher
Sailors' Snug Harbor was a nineteenth-century charitable institution for retired seamen. This institution, located on Staten Island, was well-endowed with incomes from Manhattan real estate, and so its buildings were grand, its grounds were park-like, and, overall, it was an elegant complex. The retired seamen's surroundings allowed them to live at the top of a hierarchy of charity. The lives of the nineteenth-century seamen at Snug Harbor are revealed through documents and archaeology. To what extent did the Board of Trustees use material culture in their efforts to reinforce or change the residents' behavior? This article discusses how the institution of Sailors' Snug Harbor evolved and changed over time. The success of Sailors' Snug Harbor in delivering a wide range of services to the impoverished retired seamen was dependent first on its substantial financial endowment. But the evidence also reveals the equally important pragmatism of its Board of Trustees who sustained a generous, flexible vision of how these formerly hardworking sailors deserved to spend the rest of their lives.

Sailors' Snug Harbor était une institution caritative datant du 19 iPme siPcle qui était vouée aux marins B la retraite. Située sur Staten Island, cette institution était financée par des investissements immobiliers B Manhattan qui comprenaient des édifices imposants sur de vastes terrains composant un élégant complexe. Les marins retraités vivaient ainsi au sommet de la hiérarchie du milieu caritatif. Les vies de ces marins sont révélées par le biais de documents et l'archéologie. Jusqu'B quel point est-ce que les membres du conseil d'administration de cette institution utilisaient la culture matérielle pour renforcer ou changer les comportements des résidents? Cet article présente de quelle façon l'institution de Sailors' Snug Harbor a évolué et changé B travers le temps. Son succPs, en desservant les marins retraités appauvris, dépendait surtout du financement provenant d'investissements considérables. Les données démontrent que le pragmatisme des administrateurs a permis B des marins retraités de passer le reste de leurs vies dans un environnement de générosité.

BOOK REVIEW

97-98 Early Native Literacies in New England: a Documentary and Critical Anthology (Kristina Bross and Hilary E. Wyss, editors)
Laurie Weinstein

EDITORIAL COMMENT

This volume of Northeast Anthropology is dedicated to the theme of Public Archaeology. This is an area that is very important to me personally and is of increasing significance to anthropology. While in times past archaeology was often conducted with minimal attention to the public consumption of research, changing circumstances necessitate that archaeologists take the public perception of their research into account. The public in general has become increasingly interested in our work, and a decreasing array of available resources for archaeology requires justifying our work to those who ultimately control the purse strings. I have been involved in several public outreach programs, ranging from public lectures, school visits, to larger programs that bring the public to sites to see archaeology in action.

The papers presented in the volume have been gathered by my colleague, Dr. Christina Rieth, director of the Cultural Resources Survey Program of the New York State Museum and also State Archaeologist for New York. Versions of these papers were presented at the 2007 Society of American Archaeology in Austin, Texas, in a symposium entitled "Public Archaeology and Education in Northeast Research and Compliance Projects." Dr. Rieth's contribution to the volume summarizes the general concerns faced by archaeologists interested in engaging the public of New York State and beyond. Dr. Rieth and Kristy Primeau present a summary and discussion of a public outreach program gauged for elementary and high school teachers, in which I myself have also taken part. Engaging teachers is especially important for public outreach, as one teacher will go on to interact with far more students than a single archaeologist can hope to. Dr. Sherene Baugher of Cornell University presents a public program on local archaeology run in cooperation with the Park Service at Robert Treman State Park. Dr. Hope Luhman of the Louis Berger Group, Inc., takes a more general tack and discusses how making the past and its material remains seem relevant to the modern public is vital to public outreach. Finally, Dr. Beverly A. Chiarulli of Indiana University of Pennsylvania offers a synthesis and critique of the various issues raised in the volume's papers.

In addition to the public archaeological papers, we have also included another paper by Sherene Baugher. Dr Baugher presents her research on the historical site of Snug Harbor, a nineteenth-century charitable institution in Manhattan dedicated to the care of retired seamen. Referring to a combination of historical documents and archaeological data, she presents a compelling picture of the lives of the occupants of the site, and the role of charitable institutions in the nineteenth-century society.

Two business issues need to be addressed. First, I will again remind our readers that the mailing address and payee for checks are two separate entries. Checks should be mailed to Northeast Anthropology, c/o Sean Rafferty, University at Albany, SUNY, AS237, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany, NY, 12222. However, checks must be made out to "Research Foundation of SUNY." Checks not made out as such will be returned to the sender.

Second, Northeast Anthropology is looking for a new Book Review editor. Mary Ann Levine served for several years in this capacity, and has since moved on to other duties. I have been serving in this role in a temporary capacity, but find I cannot give the position the attention it deserves. The book review editor gets their subscription to the journal paid for, and is also a member of editorial staff. Any potentially interested candidates should contact the journal at neanthro@albany.edu.

Enjoy the volume, and keep an eye out for our resubscription notice in the near future.

Regards,

Sean M. Rafferty