Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Errata
In haste of attempting to obtain a timely publication for the following article, several errors
occurred.
ARNOLD,
J. BARTO
III
1996 The Texas Historical Commission’s Underwater Archaeological Survey of I995 and the Preliminary Report on the Belle,
LaSalle’s Shipwreck of 1686. Historical Archaeology 30(4): 66-87.
Missing References
BALL,DAVID,
AND BRETT
PHANEUF
1995 Preliminary description of instrumentation and survey areas for Matagorda Bay magnetometer survey of 1995. Manuscript
on file, Texas Historical Commission, Austin, Texas.
GUEROUT,
MAX
1995 Le canon de Matagorda Bay et l’artillerie de bronze francaise. Manuscript on file, Texas Historical Commission, Austin,
TX.
LESSMANN,
ANNE
1995 Preliminary ceramic analysis of samples raised from the seventeenth-century French shipwreck LaBelle (1686), Matagorda
Bay, Texas. Manuscript on file, Texas Historical Commission, Austin, TX.
MEIDE,
CHUCK
1995 A preliminary analysis of cask remains from the shipwreckLaBelle: the 1995 excavation. Manuscript on file, TX. Historical
Commission, Austin, TX.
Introduction
Fraser and Butler 1986; Potter 1991:95; Deloria plication through racial eugenics (Hrdlicka 1918),
1995; Fountain 1995) the population which while much of physical anthropology was being
scholars were now so eager to study. used to justify racial segregation laws which in-
stitutionalized discrimination against blacks.
Academic Anthropology and History Members of MFAT seemed keen on demon-
strating to the public their technical knowledge
The skeletal population excavated from the by showing the cranial and post-cranial traits
African Burial Ground represents the remains of they used to classify the race of skeletons.
some of the first Africans brought to North Members of the New York descendant commu-
America. These ancestral remains were of great nity often identified these explanations of facial
interest to the New York Metropolitan Forensic and pelvic traits as troubling. Why should a
Anthropology Team (MFAT), the original physi- grandmother have been disturbed at such demon-
cal anthropologists working with HCI. MFAT strations to her granddaughter? Why should an
was greatly concerned with the morphometric architect have asked, perplexed, how it could be
data (Cook 1993:26-27; GSA 1993) this baseline possible for a femur to represent her ancestry?
population contained for the development of What has caused these negative reactions to
“racing” methods. This emphasis on the appli- simple biological approaches to racing? We
cation of methods of racial identification have no certain answers to these questions, as
coupled with a paucity of previous African and indeed those who expressed these concerns
African-American studies research characterized seemed unable to explain them.
the approaches of the archaeologists and physi- The intellectual background to the issues of
cal anthropologists who had excavated the site. racial determination may shed some light, how-
The potential for stereotypical, sterile, and ever. There are historical precedents for objec-
denigrating interpretations of the site based on tions to anthropological studies of race in the
morphometric analysis became increasingly ap- African-American community, and the
parent to the African-American community. The Smithsonian’s early racial research is representa-
primacy of this interest, coupled with a per- tive of broader trends to which objections were
ceived disrespect on the part of the physical made (Blakey 1987, 1996). In 1916, Hrdlicka
anthropologists and the GSA for the wishes of (1928) had great difficulty in obtaining coopera-
the descendant community, led to much of the tion from African Americans, particularly
conflict that has surrounded the African Burial women, for his study of “The Full-Blood Ameri-
Ground Project (CPWT 1992:34; Scarupa 1994). can Negro,” whom he described as “suspicious.”
Distortions of the African and African-Ameri- African Americans were generally aware of the
can past by anthropologists and historians have demeaning uses of such data, which were gen-
been a prominent concern of African Americans erally used to show their inferiority and social
for nearly 150 years. As early as 1854 distance, while “elite” Euroamericans clamored
Frederick Douglass pointed to the works of the to be included in such research, which was gen-
first American physical anthropologists and erally used to demonstrate their superiority and
Egyptologists as an effort to show blacks to be social position. Hrdlicka had a preconceived
uncivilized and subhuman for the purpose of notion of full-bloods as the objective unit of
legitimating the institution of slavery (Douglass biological analysis, yet most African Americans
1950[1854]). Ales Hrdlicka, the first curator of were not included in that type which he sought
physical anthropology at the United States Na- to measure and characterize. For African Ameri-
tional Museum, Smithsonian, stated that physical cans today, “racing” has been associated with
anthropology was intended to have practical ap- arguments in support of black inferiority, social
SEIZING INTELLECTUAL POWER: THE DIALOGUE 89
and biological distance, and stereotypical images tion. The methodologically constructed black or
that reflected little of the range of variation that “Negroid,” however, is dissociated from any par-
they knew of themselves. ticular culture and history. Racing thus con-
The similarities between this historical example structs an identity that is culture-less, history-
and the forensic approaches initially proposed for less, and biologically shallow. Here, racing was
the African Burial Ground can be very informa- being proposed by anthropologists who had en-
tive. Forensic approaches assume the existence gaged, as the community and scholars soon be-
of a real racial biological type. While a broader came aware, in very little study of Africana his-
range of African Americans can be captured tory and culture.
within the black, or Negroid, classification used The proposed alternative combined morpho-
today, the assumption persists that there are logical, morphometric, and molecular genetic
some discrete traits that represent the features of data to assess specific breeding population affili-
a pure type (for example, nasal “guttering,” ex- ations (Blakey 1992a, 1992b; HUJMA 1993).
treme prognathism, large teeth). Morphological Historical, archaeological, and stable isotope data
assessment in which MFAT was immediately would be used to interpret the cultural and eco-
involved during excavation focused on such dis- logical characteristics of the places of origin.
crete, stereotypical traits or their absence. These The result should produce information about af-
were the features that were being described to filiated populations that have culture histories
the public. such as the Ashanti, Yoruba, Dutch, Lenape,
Furthermore, the use of inadequately tested English, and other potential origins of the people
post-cranial measurements for determining race buried in the African Burial Ground. The de-
raised both scholarly and public questioning. scendant community’s reaction to this biocultural
The MFAT method involved measures of the approach was far more favorable than to foren-
bones of the thigh and hip. The accuracy of sic classification. Many physical anthropologists,
this method has not been demonstrated on popu- however, objected to the rejection of MFAT’s
lations other than the Americans of the Terry racing methods (Cook 1993; GSA 1993;
Collection at the Smithsonian, with which the Epperson 1997). In our case, it was the descen-
method had been developed (DiBennardo and dant community that would ultimately choose.
Taylor 1983). The tautological nature of that Embedded in the context of the New York
test was questioned at the time of the original African Burial Ground phenomenon is a sophis-
study. Moreover, even the more reliable cranial ticated awareness on the part of the general Af-
methods of racing that are based on African- rican-American public regarding the demeaning
American populations have been shown to be abuses of anthropology and history by
wholly inadequate for the study of West African Euroamericans. The descendant community im-
populations, which are morphologically different mediately understood the parallels between the
from African Americans, different from other mishandling of the bones and the racial reality
African populations, as well as regionally di- of their lives (Wright and Brown 1992; Davila
verse. To reduce the biological identity of the et al. 1994). If race follows the African descen-
African Burial Ground population to these nar- dant population beyond the grave, then racism,
row typologies was to assume, if applied, to by definition, follows as well.
construct a stereotype of the ancestral population.
This is not far from Hrdlicka’s limitations at the Public Engagement Through History
turn of this century.
Biological race-Negroids, Caucasoids, Mon- During the excavation phase of the project, the
goloids-was viewed by forensics experts as the public was kept informed through a “grassroots,”
most objective or scientific means of classifica- community-based newsletter, Ground Truth, by
90 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 31(3)
word of mouth, and by contacting the GSA di- In virtually every area where evidence from the past is
rectly for information. As leadership of the needed to support the validity of a given proposition,
a historian can be found who will provide the evidence
project changed, public education became a ma- that is needed. Historians have usually been prepared
jor component of the African Burial Ground to provide facile and quick explanations for the subor-
project. dinate place of African Americans in American life.
Sherrill D. Wilson was named director of the From the time Africans were brought as indentured
Office of Public Education and Interpretation servants to the mainland of English America in 1619,
the enormous task of rationalizing and justifying the
(OPEI), formerly known as the Liaison Office. forced labor of peoples on the basis of racial differ-
Prior to her work on this project, Wilson had ences was begun; and even after legal slavery was
developed an effective approach to public history ended, the notion of racial differences persisted as a
through her African-American historic sites tours basis for maintaining segregation and discrimination
of New York City, “Reclaim the Memories.” (Franklin 1989[1965]: 132).
Her business, which she had been operating for
Carter G. Woodson, perhaps the most impor-
five years, reflected the fact that African-Ameri-
tant single African-American historian, founded
can scholars were developing compatible re-
the Association for the Study of Negro Life and
sources and approaches that were informed by
History in 1915 and published the Journal of
common understandings of the relationship of
Negro History as the first outlet for the dissemi-
anthropology and history to the needs of their
nation of black history. His efforts led to the
community. Her focus on public history was
formation of Negro History Week in 1926,
consistent with public engagement initiatives.
which was later to become Black History Month.
The African Burial Ground Project would ulti-
His most prominent book, The Mis-education of
mately benefit from that preparation.
the Negro (Woodson 1933), speaks directly to
By focusing on the need to fill the gaps of
the historiographic influences of the ideology of
omission left by Eurocentric public history in
white supremacy.
New York City, Wilson was participating in the
Throughout the civil rights and black nation-
long tradition of what St. Claire Drake termed
alist movements of the 1950s, ‘60s, and early
“vindicationism.” Throughout the 19th and 20th
centuries, African-American and African scholars ‘70s, “Black Studies” programs were fought for
could usually be characterized as by African Americans and established at many
“vindicationists” because the most persistent universities (Hine 1986). During the 1980s and
thread running through their work was the at- 1990s, an Afrocentric educational movement
tempt to correct the demeaning distortions of the emerged in the black community in response to
culture, biology, and history of the Africana the distorted global and American history Afri-
world (Schomburg 1929; Drake 1980). See also can-American children are continually taught.
Rankin-Hill and Blakey (1994) for histories of That history frequenly presents a romantic view
anthropological contributions to the vindicationist of European and Euroamerican identity and an
effort; Diop (1974[1967]) and Van Sertima omitted African and African-American presence
(1986) treat recent vindicationist efforts relating in important societal developments, of which
to archaeology, linguistic, and classical studies they were an integral part.
that are currently broadly read among the Afri- Indeed, New York’s African Burial Ground
can and African-American public. was a vivid example of the omission of the co-
Eurocentric distortions of Africana history have lonial Africans’ presence and contribution to the
been viewed not as accidental flaws of indi- building of the city and the nation. The African-
vidual researchers but as politically motivated American public could at once turn to the abun-
and systemic means of social, intellectual, and dant and tangible physical remains of the people
cultural control. While seminal historical works omitted from the city’s deficient school curricula.
have contributed to correcting this legacy, By omission, northern slavery and racism were
Euroamericans rarely have had an understanding denied.
of the depth and dimension of African-American The African-American public interested in the
intellectual life (Hine 1986): African Burial Ground was usually quite aware
SEIZING INTELLECTUAL POWER: THE DIALOGUE 91
of bodies of “vindicationist,” Africana studies mains. Although never explicitly stated, the sen-
and Afrocentric literature which held greater in- timent among the descendant community was
tellectual relevancy, while exposing the biases of that the importance, particularly the spiritual
“mainstream” or Eurocentric historiography and importance that the site held, was too great to
anthropology. Many among the New York pub- allow field excavation techniques to be the sole
lic were influenced by extensive travel to vari- criterion of competence (Harrington 1993:33).
ous African countries, some of which was done The question was not whether these individuals
with Afrocentric organizations. To quote Miriam were qualified scientists, but whether they would
Francis, one of the most active members of the be qualified to direct research on an important
federal steering committee, “If it was an African African-American bioarchaeological site.
find, we wanted to make sure that it was inter-
preted from an African point of view” African Americans in and Through
(Harrington 1993:34). Archaeology
When vindicationist motivations were ex-
plained as part of the site’s significance for the For approximately the first 75 years of the
African-American community, Euroamericans, history of American archaeology, until 1946,
including members of the New York City Land- African Americans as well as other groups with-
marks Preservation Commission and the Advi- out an independent income were largely excluded
sory Council for Historic Preservation, expressed from the profession. During the depression it
fears and objections, characterizing the approach was discovered that archaeology could usefully
as ethnocentric bias. Yet the vindicationist tra- employ large numbers of individuals to move
dition was posed as a corrective for persistent earth. The Works Progress Administration
Eurocentric bias and misrepresentation, and as a (WPA) projects of the 1930s, and later the GI
search for truth and accuracy. Bill, allowed a broader segment of America’s
social classes exposure to archaeology. Most of
Archaeology and Cultural Resource the first archaeologists without independent
Management wealth were World War II veterans who ben-
efited from the GI Bill (Barbour 1994). During
Although the impetus for the project was cul- the 1960s and 1970s, the Ford Foundation and
tural resource management, the implications have other funding sources established fellowships to
been broad and complex. New Yorkers sought correct the underrepresentation of African-Ameri-
and still seek authority, defined by Kertzer can scholars, which led to an increase in Afri-
(1988:110) as the right to exercise influence over can-American anthropologists (Drake 1980), the
behavior, with African and African-American vast majority of whom were cultural anthropolo-
archaeologists and anthropologists directing the gists.
research. As previously stated, there were con- The development of Cultural Resource Man-
cerns that the guiding methodologies, theories, agement (CRM) has fostered the growth of Af-
and ideologies that govern the primary research rican-American archaeology since the 1960s
disciplines (e.g., Hodder 1986, 1992; Leone and (Ferguson 1992; Barbour 1996), particularly in
Potter 1988; Trigger 1989; Blakey 1990:38; the South. Until the excavations of the African
Yoffee and Sherratt 1993; deMaret 1994:183; Burial Ground, African-American archaeology in
Leone and Potter 1994; Orser 1996) would be the North had concentrated on finds that re-
misapplied in studying the skeletal and artifactual flected the interests of individual archaeologists
remains from this site (Harrington 1993:36; Fos- and were largely of local interest (Barbour
ter 1994:4). This concern certainly extended to 1996).
archaeological theory and practices, particularly Some of the early work in the North included
since problems that potentially have contributed Robert Schuyler’s (1972) study of oyster
to the loss of data occurred as a result of rapid fisherfolk of Sandy Ground, Staten Island; Bert
excavation and inadequate stabilization of re- Salwen’s (Bridges and Salwen 1980) study at
92 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 31(3)
Weeksville; James Deetz’s study of black developed as ethnically distinct disciplines, the
households in Massachusetts including Parting former mainly white and the latter mainly black,
Ways (Deetz 1977) and Black Lucy’s Garden with little interaction. Theresa Singleton, the
(Bullen and Bullen 1945; Baker 1980); and Smithsonian’s leading historical archaeologist,
Mark Leone’s (1984) public archaeology pro- and Ronald Bailey, chair of Northeastern
gram at Annapolis. Recently, CRM firms have University’s African-American Studies Depart-
added significantly to recovery of Afncan-Ameri- ment, attempted to bring the two fields together
can history, including JMA’s excavations at the in Oxford, Mississippi, in 1989. Singleton
two First African Baptist Church cemeteries in (1994) and Singleton and Bograd (1995) recog-
Philadelphia (Kelley and Angel 1989; Parrington nize that the ethnic and black studies movement
et al. 1989; Crist et al. 1995). of the 1960s and ‘70s spurred initial interest in
CRM archaeologists have, however, been ac-
African-American archaeology, along with his-
countable to governmental and other clients who
toric preservation legislation and bicentennial
frequently are not principally interested in an-
thropological research, a problem which has interests. They find that “the problem [of Afri-
pointed to the risk of “deskilling” (Paynter 1983) can-American archaeology] is that the field is
and to oftentimes inadequate resources for care- theory poor, not data poor” (Singleton and
ful analysis (Lacy and Hasenstab 1983). The Bograd 1995). Samford (1996:113) has also ob-
extent to which CRM archaeologists uphold dis- served, “In the two decades that archaeologists
ciplinary standards (Schuldenrein 1995) is also have been excavating African American slave
not the same as the extent to which they uphold sites, they have accumulated a substantial body
the standards of African-American studies. The of data. Unfortunately data recovery has out-
predominantly Euroamerican field of CRM ar- paced both analysis and the reformulation of
chaeology and the predominantly African-Ameri- research goals.”
can field of African-American studies remain far While several important studies have certainly
apart. Generally, CRM archaeologists need have been done, year after year, archaeologists and
little academic preparation or interest in African- physical anthropologists, some with a superficial
American research. CRM archaeologists rarely understanding of African-American history and
seek academic preparation in African-American culture, profit from the conduct of research on
studies departments and very few faculty of Af- archaeological sites that influence how African
rican-American studies departments have been Americans are defined. This was clearly the
contracted by archaeologists. Is the view of case, and a major source of contention, sur-
African-American history and culture so defi- rounding the original excavation team at the
cient, so simple, that one need have no special- New York African Burial Ground project.
ized training to conduct research in that culture Understandably, New Yorkers feared that the
area? cultural significance often hidden from the
boundaries of social contact and daily interaction
Philosophical Divergence would be unrecognized and overlooked (McGuire
and Paynter 1991) and that obvious interpreta-
Philosophical divergence occurs in several ar- tions would become problematic in terms of rec-
eas including methods of analysis and interpre- ognition. This is particularly so since far fewer
tation, semantics, and social interpretation. Each African descendant sites have been excavated or
is addressed more fully below. identified in the North as compared to the fie-
quency with which southern plantation sites are
excavated. Comparatively little archaeological
Ana lysis and Interpretation evidence exists for 17th- and 18th-century New
York Africans, suggesting that much groundwork
In the informally segregated United States, will have to be laid in the study of this popu-
archaeology and African-American Studies have lation.
SEIZING INTELLECTUAL POWER: THE DIALOGUE 93
Seizing intellectual control has meant that the such an interpretation (Klima 1992:20). As a
criteria for competency have been expanded to result, New Yorkers insisted on African-Ameri-
include an affinity for African-American culture, can leadership and involvement in all aspects of
past and present, and comfort with and knowl- this project.
edge of the politics of African descendant popu- Yet, Larry McKee (1995:4) argues in “Com-
lations, their cultures, and their histories (CPWT mentary: Is It Futile to Try and Be Useful?
1992:34-4 1; Harrington 1993:33; Wilson Historical Archaeology and the African American
1995:3). As was sometimes the case at the Experience” that “studying African-American life
African Burial Ground excavations, there was from just an African-American perspective would
evidence of discomfort and uneasiness with Af- end up one-sided and ultimately sterile.” Pre-
rican Americans among some excavators and sumably, then, the dearth of African-American
archaeologists (McGowan and Brighton 1995, archaeologists, which he also acknowledges, im-
pers. comm.), further contributing to concerns plies that archaeological interpretation of African-
that current racial attitudes would influence inter- American sites to date must be one-sided and
pretations of the historical population being stud- ultimately sterile since primarily Euroamericans
ied. interpret these sites. After 125 years of Ameri-
Furthermore, questions which reflect the gen- can archaeology as an organized discipline, there
eral sentiment “should white people study black are fewer than six African Americans who hold
people?” (Nobile 1993; Wayne 1994:6; Curtin Ph.D.s in the field (Barbour 1994), with an
1995) and an insistence on “racing skeletons” equal number currently in graduate programs
(GSA 1993; Epperson 1997) give the impression around the country.
that simplistic questions are being asked rather There was a concern among African Ameri-
than complex, insightful queries that also ac- cans that what would be deemed the important
knowledge the entangled philosophical and theo- avenues of inquiry would be hollow and irrel-
retical dilemmas archaeology must resolve with evant for the African-descendant community
respect to the demands of descendant communi- (Muhammad et al. 1993:3). Entrenched, long-
ties (Robertshaw 1995). held philosophical positions of power are not
As Jamieson (1995:39) correctly observes re- easily relinquished, and new perspectives are
garding study of the remains from the African often difficult for scholars to develop or embrace
Burial Ground: “The developments in New without dialogue or outside influence. As the
York City . . . have demonstrated that contract changing archaeological perspective weds ar-
archaeologists are required to deal with such re- chaeological findings with interdisciplinary re-
mains, and that a solid understanding of the his- search and oral history, perhaps scholars and
torical and anthropological aspects of African- others outside the discipline may begin to access
American mortuary practices is necessary before and find relevance in the body of work produced
interpreting them.” In a field where African by our efforts. African-American historians, in
Americans have been largely invisible and the particular, can be informed by accurate archaeo-
documentary evidence unsupportive, methodolo- logical research and interpretation.
gies that uncover the archaeological visibility of
African Americans are sorely needed (Barbour Semantics
1996).
According to Hodder (1986:7), “It is only Semantics and the use of descriptive language
when we make assumptions about the subjective has been a constant theme in New York. Insis-
meanings in the minds of people long dead that tence on the use of the word African in the re-
we can begin to do archaeology.” This view of naming of the “Negroes Burying Ground” dem-
archaeological interpretation again would have onstrates the descendant community’s understand-
left the New York descendant community depen- ing of the power and influence of language as
dent upon the largely Euroamerican researchers well as the need to eschew European descriptive
who would consider themselves qualified for terminology. These African Americans chose to
94 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 31(3)
The interpreter’s specialized knowledge and fa- did have a fundamental understanding of issues,
miliarity with the culture being studied should and while many others empathized with the is-
and does affect analysis in obvious ways. At sue of desecration, most sought only to contain
the African Burial Ground, for example, a pat- the inconveniences being fostered by black pro-
tern of nail heads formed a symbol on a coffin test, a protest whose justifications they could
which was widely recognized as a heart (Figure scarcely have comprehended.
5). An African-American scientist, while not at Equally significant for African Americans were
all a specialist in African symbolic systems, rec- the metaphorical and symptomatological mean-
ognized the ornate heart shape as closely resem- ings of the conflicts in which they were em-
bling one of the Asanti Adinkra symbols whose broiled. Here were the historical and the cur-
use was growing in popularity in African-Ameri- rent, day-to-day problems of racial discrimination
can culture. When a Ghanaian historian of Af- being played out on a small scale. Audible ra-
rican art looked at this same symbol, he too saw cial epithets were not being slung, but that has
Sankofa, one of the Adinkra symbols, and could not been the dominant or accepted mode of rac-
explain the appropriateness of its temporal, cul- ist social relations in the United States for some
tural, and mortuary context: “The symbol ex- time now. Instead, the federal government and
presses the Akan social thought that espouses the its previous consultants were seen as pursuing a
essence of tying the past with the present in course of obstruction that reflected a dismissive
order to prepare for the future” (Ofori-Ansa attitude toward blacks whom they sought to con-
1995:3). trol by denying access to substantive power.
While it is difficult to interpret or extrapolate Both the consultants and the GSA underesti-
meaning from a culturally ambiguous symbol mated the African-American community’s resolve
within the archaeological context, Adinkra sym- to establish authority over the disposition of the
bolism is more appropriate to the population site and its analysis. When African-American
buried in the African Burial Ground and demon- community leaders and scientists repeatedly as-
strates the divergent perspectives which shape serted those intentions, glaring attempts were
interpretation. The introduction of relevant Af- made to ignore them or to placate them with
rican systems of thought provides evidence of shallow offerings.
why African and African-American scholars felt Most of the Euroamerican government officials
compelled to broaden the prospective of this and their consultants acted without apparent rec-
project. Myopic interpretation of the compara- ognition that blacks understood exactly what was
tively few diagnostic artifacts excavated from the being attempted and had effective strategies for
site would contribute to a superficial understand- surmounting those obstacles. Exclusion, dismiss-
ing of New York’s African colonial population. ive attitudes, tokenism, and claims of unfairness
and “reverse racism” when African Americans
Social Politics of the African Burial Ground seek full access to resources are commonplace
interactions with white Americans. The effec-
The African Burial Ground is often seen as an tiveness of the sophisticated African-American
example of whites and blacks perceiving issues lobby at the city, state, and national levels dem-
so differently as to merely exist together in onstrates a lack of realism on their opponents’
physical space while operating in very different part. Where in other aspects of daily life indi-
worlds of thought and action. African Ameri- vidual African-American citizens would be lim-
cans succeeded as they did because their critical ited in their ability to roundly address such cir-
view of the issues was more accurate, relative to cumstances, here in the important moment and
most Euroamericans involved with the project. symbolism of their ancestor’s dignity, white rac-
While some Euroamericans directly involved ism would be addressed in microcosm. The
with the controversy, and who were closely United States government’s role as antagonist,
aligned with the African-American community, along with that of the discipline that defined
96 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 31 (3)
racial differences and African culture, could not today’s African Americans have been able to
have been more appropriate foils for African- speak for themselves (Wall 1995).
American empowerment. The federal steering committee meetings were
Despite the longer track record and established among the most virulent encounters associated
credentials of Howard University’s program of with the African Burial Ground project (S&S
research in African-American bioanthropology, Reporting 1992-1994; Schomburg Center 1992-
members of the original excavation team charac- 1994). Many of the Euroamericans originally in
terized Howard’s efforts as “reverse racism,” a control of the project were unaccustomed to or
characterization that immediately eliminated the uncomfortable with emotional displays, and dem-
multitude of intellectual issues. Many of the onstrated a dismissive attitude when unable to
whites who had represented anthropological and contend with the emotionally charged, angry re-
preservation concerns in New York City and sponses of a descendant community whose ear-
who had supported greater participation by Afri- lier moderaton was met only with betrayal.
can-American scholars at the site began to object More often, however, it was the need for
to Howard University’s plan to remove the re- “sensitivity” toward African Americans that
mains from New York City to its Washington whites recognized, but did not understand.
laboratory. These New Yorkers thus attempted While the issue of sensitivity toward the sacred
to stand in the way of African-American intel- was apparently shared by Euroamericans and
lectual control, in the interests of their own ac- African Americans alike, it was unclear whether
cess to a prominent historical resource. the meanings of the concept were the same for
Since New Yorkers can be extremely provin- both. African Americans were insisting on “re-
cial (Muhammad et al. 1993), the choice on the spect” for the dead and the living. In a society
part of the descendant community to remove imbued with racist stereotypes of blacks as
what must have been viewed as “their” cultural overly emotional, irrational, and hyperpolitical,
resource to an environment where their interests however, even liberal white concerns for “sensi-
could be understood, respected, and empowered tivity” easily can be based upon a patronizing
is a dramatic indictment of the status quo. The attitude whose assumptions are racist, further
need to place the remains at Howard University adding to an atmosphere of mistrust (Kutz
also speaks to the dearth of local options and 1994). African Americans sought control, not
the lack of investment in African-American sympathy.
bioarchaeology in New York City. The charter of the federal steering committee
was not renewed once the newly constructed
The Federal Steering Committee federal office building was occupied in Novem-
ber 1994, leaving many with the impression that
In response to provisions set forth in Section the federal government’s only interest in address-
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act ing community concerns was expediency and
(36 CFR 800) requiring the consultation of inter- that clearly no lasting changes had occurred.
ested parties, a federal steering committee com- There are several specific issues which were
posed of concerned community activists and never resolved by the steering committee. The
various experts and professionals was formed to areas of concern beyond the direction of the re-
foster the dialogue between the GSA, archaeolo- search included the establishment of a world-
gists, and community members (Jorde et al. class museum, an appropriate memorial, and
1993). The New York descendant community reinterment on the site (Jorde et al. 1993). This
was given an official voice in the project; future last issue, reinterment, could prove as onerous as
archaeological requirements were explained, and the excavation of the cemetery if the GSA again
the government was seemingly accountable. The misjudges the gravity and depth of importance
wishes of the descendant community could be African Americans attach to this final phase
directly articulated. Unlike their ancestors, (Cohen 1992:21). There are a number of engi-
SEIZING INTELLECTUAL POWER: THE DIALOGUE 97
neering constraints associated with site stabiliza- of the responsibility for fulfilling the descendant
tion that render reburial on-site a major problem, community’s mandate now rests in the hands of
requiring careful planning and strategy, profes- the researchers and scientists in conjunction with
sional expertise, and a timetable. the GSA. The struggle for control of the Afri-
By disbanding the steering committee, ex- can Burial Ground site was a struggle to have
pressed interests of the descendant community the voice of the community heeded. Exclusion
and issues which require time to resolve have of direct community involvement as the project
been left unanswered. These unresolved issues progresses removes ethical, moral, spiritual, and
are of continuing concern, although the force social issues and obligations from community
with which they are currently being addressed control. The work of holding the GSA account-
has diminished. Senator Paterson has convened able to previous agreements with the community
a committee to address the issue of the museum has been largely assumed by the anthropologists
(Paterson 1995), but progress has been slow. directing the project.
Although major concessions have been won on
the part of the African descendant community, The Office of Public Education and
several unresolved issues such as reburial, Interpretation
memorialization, and the level of funding for
scientific and historical research specified in the The Office of Public Education and Interpre-
research design, in conjunction with unfulfilled tation (OPEI) opened in March 1993 for the
commitments, leave the question of ultimate suc- express purpose of informing the New York and
cess unanswered. national communities about the ongoing status of
Although the ancestral remains have been the African Burial Ground project. Although the
moved to Howard University and the federal future of this office is unclear (Strickland-Abuwi
steering committee is no longer in existence, 1996), it has provided information through its
New Yorkers have not relinquished stewardship monthly reports to more than 40,000 interested
of nor their desire to be closely involved in ev- persons from around the world (OPEI 1995-
ery aspect of the project (Muhammad et al. 1996).
1993:3). To quote Senator David Paterson, “The The OPEI conducts on-site and off-site histori-
descendant community of African Americans has cal slide presentations about the African Burial
been left spellbound by the discovery, and impa- Ground project and the complementary history of
tient for results” (Assael 1993: 18). Through Africans in colonial New York, archaeological
ceremonies, symposia, lectures, demonstrations, laboratory tours, and educators’ symposia for
and meetings, they have been relentless and dili- teachers, researchers, and other interested per-
gent in their devotion, as have researchers in sons. The OPEI has trained more than 80 vol-
their commitment to public engagement. This is unteers to help inform local communities of is-
the scope and magnitude of activism that exca- sues and current events relating to the project.
vation of this archaeological resource has engen- The office also accepts high school and college
dered. students as semester interns in exchange for aca-
demic credit. Howard University also conducts
Current Status laboratory tours in Washington, DC, and has
trained a team of more than 25 volunteers in its
Today, New York no longer has a black efforts to make the research accessible to the
mayor (Willen and Moses 1996), Gus Savage is public.
no longer chair of the Subcommittee on Public The OPEI publishes Update, a quarterly news-
Buildings and Grounds, and Congress is contem- letter that has a readership of more than 10,000
plating a decrease in funding and support for persons per issue. As a direct result of the ex-
CRM (Craib and Johnson 1995). Since the fed- cavations, the African Burial Ground project has
eral steering committee no longer exists, much introduced the topics of archaeology, physical
98 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 31(3)
anthropology, and conservation to scores of chil- however, has not eliminated misinterpretation or
dren and adults who otherwise would not have misrepresentation. Bucolic depictions of the
been exposed to these disciplines. African Burial Ground in the New York Times
The OPEI has supported Richard Brown, (Dunlap 1992) and in the Historical Atlas of
former steering committee member, in a commu- New York City (Homberger 1994:44-45) each
nity-engineered campaign to have the U.S. Postal misrepresent the visual imagery of the location
Service issue an African Burial Ground com- by depicting a lush, flat pastoral landscape rather
memorative stamp (Devieux 1995). As of than the hilly, ravined location near New York‘s
August 1997, more than 104,000 signatures had noxious industries. Situated on undesirable land
been collected from 40 states and 16 countries and originally located outside the city limits, the
(OPEI 1995-1996; Devieux 1997, pers. comm.). cemetery was, by mid-18th century, beyond a
The goal of this commemorative stamp campaign gated, 14-ft.-high palisades; the hills and deep
was to collect 100,000 signatures for submission ravine described in Stokes (1915-1928:591), the
to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee in
National Historic Landmark Designation (Land-
April 1996 (OPEI 1995-1996). This petition has
marks 1992:5), and other historical documents
been denied for the second time by the commit-
are not in evidence. Presenting such incorrect
tee and will not be eligible for consideration
images negates the power of the African Burial
again until late 1997. Such defeats only
Ground and the hardships faced by New York’s
strengthen the resolve of the New York commu-
early African community. This type of distor-
nity and of the stamp campaign workers who
understand the political and bureaucratic ob- tion reinforces the notion that African-American
stacles as well as the economic concerns of the New Yorkers must be relentless in their insis-
committee associated with the stamp approval tence on accuracy in all aspects pertaining to the
process (McAllister 1996a, 1996b). site.
The image (Figure 6) from The Historical At-
Media Coverage las of New York City (Homberger 1994) was
approved by cartographic consultant Alice
Hudson, head of the Map Division of the New
Media coverage of the African Burial Ground York Public Library. When the inaccuracies
project has been extensive in documenting this were referenced during a lecture, Hudson stated
unique colonial-era archaeological site. The Af- that this bucolic scene was drawn by modern
rican Burial Ground: An American Discovery English artists and that the drawing does indeed
(Kutz 1994) is an award-winning film produced look more like the English countryside than
by GSA; Unearthing the Slave Trade aired in 18th-century New York City (Hudson 1995,
1993 on the Learning Channel; and Slavery’s pers. comm.).
Buried Past aired in 1996 on the Public Broad- Furthermore, most cartographers of the period
casting System. More than 500 newspaper and also misrepresented the African Burial Ground
magazine articles have been published in media by eliminating specific identification of the six-
attempts to fill the historical voids relating to an acre cemetery from the majority of the historical
African presence in colonial New York, and to maps, further contributing to the geographical
tell the story of the New York African-American and topographical misinterpretation that has
descendant community’s struggle to preserve the plagued the site (Edwards and Kelcey 1990,1,
site and disseminate its history (Citations 1995; 3:147; Jorde et al. 19935). Since historical ar-
Pearce 1995). chaeology relies on documentary evidence as
The African Burial Ground has also been in- well as archaeological data for interpretation of
cluded in at least two recent historical publica- sites, current visual misrepresentations and omis-
tions, The Encyclopedia of New York City (Jack- sions of the past have implications for the dis-
son 1995) and The Historical Atlas of New York cipline and reveal the continual problems of cul-
City (Homberger 1994). This new inclusion, tural bias.
SEIZING INTELLECTUAL POWER: THE DIALOGUE 99
Diversity and Divergence the Howard University initiative and those of the
African-American public seemed to largely cor-
Intellectual sophistication beyond the narrow respond, but these could not be realized until the
limits of customary Eurocentrism requires the public took control of the situation.
participation of people of diverse ethnicities in While spirituality is an issue that was at the
the practice of anthropology in general (Blakey core of the African-American struggle for control
1989) and of archaeology and museology in par- (S&S Reporting 1993), there are several other
ticular (Blakey 1990:45). Thus, the intellectual issues of concern that African-American New
evolution of the field; non-white participation; Yorkers brought to this site. Foremost among
anti-Eurocentrism; and community engagement them is the philosophical divergence among Af-
and empowerment are mutually reinforcing. As rican Americans. Although there is general
the situation in New York evolved, the African unity surrounding the major issues, the African
Burial Ground became apparent as a practical descendant community speaks with many voices
and dramatic case for the development of the (Update 1993-1996). The Muslim community,
theory and practice of inclusion and engagement. for example, is constant in their reminders that
In the case of the African Burial Ground, en- Muslims were also enslaved and could have
gagement was also powerfully informed by the been buried at the cemetery (Hatim 1995).
long tradition of African-American vindicationist Various religious communities approach the
critique (Foster 1994), as discussed previously, site from divergent philosophical as well as di-
and by scholarly activism, the latter being a vergent political perspectives. The political
somewhat more assertive version of the engaged forces active within the African-American com-
scholar or public intellectual. The interests of munity also have been diverse, ranging from
FIGURE 6. Idyllic modern depiction of the African Burial Ground, which was located southwest of the Collect Pond (after
Homberger 1994).
100 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 31(3)
black nationalists and Afrocentric organizations artifacts excavated from the African Burial
to individuals with strong personal beliefs. It is Ground. It is tangible, it is real, and it lives
particularly interesting that older African Ameri- through the dead: “Black people see those re-
cans, some of whom have retired from profes- mains from the Burial Ground as life and death
sional and scientific careers, have been among and as part of the continuum of our experience
the most persistent. Additionally, divergent rather than a data pool to be objectified” (Nelson
religious, political, and scientific perspectives and 1993). According to former Mayor David
philosophies in approaching the problems relating Dinkins:
to the African Burial Ground have, at times,
Millions of Americans celebrate Ellis Island as the
been the most threatening to the cohesion and
symbol of their communal identity in this land. 0th-
resolve of the African-American community. ers celebrate Plymouth Rock. Until a few years ago,
African-American New Yorkers had no site to call our
Conclusion own. There was no place which said, we were here,
we contributed, we played a significant role in New
York’s history right from the beginning . . . . Now
For African-American New Yorkers, the exca-
we-their descendants-have the symbol of our heritage
vation of our ancestors has been a cathartic and embodied in lower Manhattan’s African Burial Ground.
wrenching experience. The anxiety caused by The African Burial Ground is the irrefutable testimony
the excavations and post-excavation project man- to the contributions and suffering of our ancestors
agement provoked anger, outrage, and cynicism. (Dinkins 1994).
The descendant community is still highly pained
Noted historian John Henrik Clarke character-
and deeply offended by the desecration of this
izes the African Burial Ground as a holistic
ancestral site (Daughtry 1992; Scarupa 1994).
space that touches the lives of African people in
Outraged by the fact that this population, mis-
this country and might touch the lives of Afri-
treated in life, was continuing to be mistreated
can people all over the world (CPWT 1992:34).
beyond death (Dunlap 1992), New York’s Afri-
The African Burial Ground project has benefited
can Americans were driven by a sense of re-
from the participation and interest of people
sponsibility for the protection of ancestral heri-
from around the world, from all walks of life,
tage and a desire to ensure that the dead were
and from many ethnic backgrounds. The
honored and memorialized (Wright and Brown
project’s OPEI and the archaeological and
1992; Jorde et al. 1993; Wilson 1995; Devieux
bioanthropology laboratories have been visited by
1995). This sense of responsibility and
scholars from Japan, East Germany, Korea, the
descendancy rapidly spread to the national Afri-
Caribbean, Canada, England, and Ireland, as well
can-American communities, and to African com-
as from a multitude of African nations and other
munities as well. A royal Ghanaian delegation
countries.
visited the site and Howard University in 1995,
While all African Americans are culturally af-
and a briefing was held for the United Nation’s
filiated, New Yorkers have an immediate and
Human Rights Commission in Geneva in 1996.
special relationship with the African Burial
Realization of the global importance and of
Ground. No one person or group, however, can
the overwhelming spiritual, historical, anthropo-
speak for the dead. This project and the histori-
logical, and scientific importance of the site has
cal and anthropological resource it represents,
led the African descendant community to take
can only be enhanced when people with differ-
extraordinary measures to seize intellectual con-
ent agendas and ideologies enter into a deeper
trol of the project. It sought power and control,
dialogue as they raise their voices in chorus.
not the afterthought of inclusion. With many
The African Burial Ground was designated a
important issues still unresolved, perhaps the true
National Historic Landmark in February 1993.
test of that power is yet to come.
Archaeology is not an end in itself. For many ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
African Americans, it is a conduit, an avenue
leading to spiritual rebirth and renewal of our We would like to thank Dr. Sherrill D. Wilson, Director
history. Our history is in the bones and in the of the Office of Public Education and Interpretation for
SEIZING INTELLECTUAL POWER: THE DIALOGUE 101
the African Burial Ground, for her contribution to and at Howard University, 11 June. On file with the
critique of this work. The contributions of Dr. Warren author.
T. D. Barbour, Dr. Warren R. Perry, and Daniel G. 1996 Skull Doctors Revisited: Intrinsic Social and Political
Roberts are also greatly appreciated. We Bias in the History of American Physical
acknowledge the financial support of the U S . General Anthropology, with special reference to the work of
Services Administration. Noel Pointer and Edmund Ales Hrdlicka. In Race and Other Misadventures:
Francis, two active and dedicated members of the Essays in Honor of Ashley Montagu in His Ninetieth
African-American community, have both gone on to Year, edited by Larry T. Reynolds and Leonard
join the Ancestors during the course of the African Lieberman, pp. 64-95. General Hall, Dix Hills, NY.
Burial Ground project; may they rest in peace.
BLAKEY,
MICHAEL E. LESLIE,
L., TERESA AND JOSEPH
P.
REIDY
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