Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Category
Social Sciences/Humanities
Abstract/Artist Statement
The large mainstem dams constructed along the Missouri River from 1946 to 1966 caused the traumatic displacement of prominent Native populations in North and South Dakota. The lack of regard for human remains and sacred artifacts flooded during this time is an appalling episode in American history. Perceived failures with salvage archaeology methods to recover artifacts and data threatened by the construction of dams motivated Cultural Resource Management practices in the United States. Laws such as the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 now provide a level of protection for Native American archaeological sites, Traditional Cultural Properties, burials, cultural resources, and other sacred items not available during the primary dam-building era following the Flood Control Act of 1944. The tragic outcomes for numerous Missouri River tribal communities helped propel CRM laws that are in effect today. But unfortunately for these tribes, there is little solace in knowing that their suffering helped motivate positive change. Had these CRM laws been in effect sooner, the losses they endured surely would have been averted.
Mentor Name
G.G. Weix
Personal Statement
My name is Lisa Hunt, and I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology with the Cultural Heritage Option, planning to use my education and personal experience to allow me to be in the service of others. I have always been an activist for social justice. Throughout my life, I've been committed to helping to end various atrocities and injustices, committed to working towards making the world a better place before I leave it. While majoring in Native American Studies for my bachelor’s degree here at the University of Montana twenty years ago, I was awakened to just how much is left out of history regarding Native Americans and Indigenous people worldwide. I was educated and corrected toward many historical truths and inspired to further advocate for racial justice and social activism. Then, the research for my master’s thesis, titled Devastation and Displacement: The Destruction of Native American Lifeways – Resulting from the Building of the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River in North Dakota and The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River in Oregon, was based upon both personal experiences and the desire for important research. While growing up on the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon, I learned about the flooding of Celilo Falls by The Dalles Dam. I had heard stories from elders who spoke of the abundance of salmon harvested since time immemorial, and the heartbreak at the time of the inundation in 1957. Furthermore, after reading the book Coyote Warrior by Paul VanDevelder, I learned about the flooding of over 150,000 acres by the Garrison Dam on the Fort Berthold Reservation in 1953, where the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara people had thrived for thousands of years. It flooded nine Native communities and was just as devastating as the stories I had grown up knowing about Celilo Falls. My current dissertation topic is still in the works, as I just finished my first semester as a Ph.D. candidate. So far, my topic is leaning towards the title and subject of “Dams, Displaced Tribes, Salvage Archaeology, and Cultural Resource Management in the Missouri River Basin in North and South Dakota.” My dissertation will be a multi-sited ethnohistory, researching social impacts of Indigenous people before and after dams inundated their sacred homeland, fishing and hunting places, and other cultural areas in the Missouri River Basin. In addition, I will be exploring the history of salvage archaeology, such as the River Basin Surveys, and its contribution to ongoing Cultural Resource Management legislation. My education in anthropology can play a big role in social justice and advocacy. A quote that stands out to me states: “The primary goal of anthropology remains to promote an empathetic appreciation of all humanity, an appreciation that should bring people together in common understanding” (Hunn & Selam 1990, 12). WORK CITED 1. Hunn, Eugene S., and James. Selam. 1990. Nch'i-wána, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press.
Grad Con 2022 Audio Slideshow Presentation
Dams, Displaced Tribes, Salvage Archaeology, and Cultural Resource Management in the Missouri River Basin in North and South Dakota.
UC North Ballroom
The large mainstem dams constructed along the Missouri River from 1946 to 1966 caused the traumatic displacement of prominent Native populations in North and South Dakota. The lack of regard for human remains and sacred artifacts flooded during this time is an appalling episode in American history. Perceived failures with salvage archaeology methods to recover artifacts and data threatened by the construction of dams motivated Cultural Resource Management practices in the United States. Laws such as the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 now provide a level of protection for Native American archaeological sites, Traditional Cultural Properties, burials, cultural resources, and other sacred items not available during the primary dam-building era following the Flood Control Act of 1944. The tragic outcomes for numerous Missouri River tribal communities helped propel CRM laws that are in effect today. But unfortunately for these tribes, there is little solace in knowing that their suffering helped motivate positive change. Had these CRM laws been in effect sooner, the losses they endured surely would have been averted.