2014 Blogging Archaeology eBook

appropriate response (I will again point you towards the excellentArchaeology Fantasies blog). However, even then it may be valuable tounderstand why people buy into that nonsense.Do not mis-represent the Native American Community.Do not try to speak for them or make mis-leading statements abouttheir position. Moreover, do not present them as a monolithic whole.Although many academic archaeologists work with members of theNative American community, CRM archaeologists are typically requiredto do so. In our work life, we often find ourselves having to explain likelyNative American reactions or views to our clients, which can put us into atough situation as our own views and goals often don’t coincide withthose of the Native American community. It is, unfortunately, tempting todo this outside of the work place and write about the Native Americancommunity on our blogs. The problem with this is twofold. First, as noted,our position as archaeologists means that we must often take positionsnot in keeping with those of Native Americans, and we may not be ableto provide a fair accounting of the places where we disagree. Second,the Native American community has typically been misrepresented inthe media, and in trying to speak for them we run the risk of furthermisrepresenting them.For my own part, I rarely write about the Native Americancommunity. I do not trust my ability to articulate the views of individualsor organizations within the community to others. Moreover, I am alwaysconcerned that anything that I write regarding the views of NativeAmerican individuals will be taken to represent the community as awhole, which it cannot because the community is a collection ofindividuals and not a monolithic whole. On those occasions that I dodiscuss the Native American community, I am cautious to accuratelyrepeat what was said, and to not claim to speak for anyone but myself.Blogging Archaeology Page 29