Year of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Name

Anthropology (Cultural Heritage and Applied Anthropology Option)

Department or School/College

Department of Anthropology

Committee Chair

Meradeth Snow

Commitee Members

Anna Prentiss, Douglas MacDonald, Kyle Volk, Elias Johnson

Keywords

Archaeology, Chinese American, Cultural Heritage, Diaspora, Heritage Adaptation, Montana

Abstract

This dissertation by publication reconstructs the history, cultural institutions, and adaptive strategies of Missoula, Montana’s Chinese community between 1860 and 1940, arguing that the population underwent a long-term, multi-generational process of heritage adaptation shaped by exclusion, isolation, and demographic decline. Drawing from Kalervo Oberg’s 1954 culture shock model, the study proposes a new theoretical framework—heritage shock—that extends the four-stage adjustment process from individuals to cultural communities. This model demonstrates how diasporic populations collectively navigate periods of arrival, crisis, adjustment, and long-term adaptation when confronted with sustained external pressures. Using an interdisciplinary methodology that integrates archival research, archaeological and faunal analysis, oral histories, and spatial reconstruction, the dissertation documents how Missoula’s Chinese residents preserved core cultural institutions while modifying others in response to constrained resources and exclusionary legislation. Heritage adaptation is demonstrated across several cultural domains, including the evolution of Lunar New Year celebrations, shifts in foodways driven by limited access to traditional ingredients, the rise of Chinese restaurants as both cultural and economic anchors, and the transformation of funerary practices as communities relied increasingly on Euro-American undertakers due to gender imbalances. Archaeological evidence from regional mining camps and urban excavation sites further reveals patterned adjustments in diet, trade networks, and material culture. The dissertation fills a major gap in Montana and Rocky Mountain West regional research by offering the first comprehensive reconstruction of Missoula’s Chinese community and situating the exhibited heritage adaptation within broader regional and national migration patterns. It also provides a replicable theoretical and methodological model for studying cultural adaptation and transformation in other diasporic populations. Ultimately, this research reframes heritage adaptation as a process of resilience, demonstrating how Missoula’s Chinese community preserved identity, memory, and cultural continuity while navigating the pressures of life in a socially restrictive environment.

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