Archaeology and the Image of the American Indian

Abstract

Archaeologists have treated American native peoples in a detached and somewhat pejorative fashion. In an attempt to explain this treatment, the development of American archaeology is examined in relation to changing views of native peoples that archaeologists have held. In the nineteenth century, native peoples were regarded as unprogressive savages, a view reflected in the "Mound Builder" myth, which held that the spectacular earthworks which were then the object of considerable antiquarian interest were the work of non-Indians. In the first half of the twentieth century, given a declining interest in the functional interpretation of archaeological data and a loosening of ties with ethnography, there was even less concern with native peoples. The New Archaeology continues to treat native peoples as objects rather than subjects of research. It is suggested that greater concern with Indian and Eskimo history might help to correct this.