Indigenous Archaeology - Internalist Archaeology

Internalist Archaeology

One particularly clearly enunciated vision of Indigenous archaeological practice is Yellowhorn’s internalist archaeology (2006). Primarily but not exclusively for the benefit of Native people, the internalist perspective fills an intellectual void left by the age-old traditions of pretending Native people are all gone, or that they are unrelated to archaeological remains, or both (Yellowhorn 2006: 197). Fundamental to the internalist endeavour is a reconsideration of basic archaeological conventions that can carry connotations distasteful to First Nations and others, such as the "chronological oppression" Yellowhorn sees in the classic history/prehistory dichotomy (2006: 198). Internalism encourages reclaiming of the archaeological record, and thus connections to land, spirit and power. An internalist archaeology treats oral narrative as a kind of middle-range theory (Yellowhorn 2006: 205) by drawing on mythology’s established mnemonic role of "connecting higher with lower levels of abstraction" (Yellowhorn 2006: 202). The appeal and usefulness of archaeology to Native practitioners and publics is heightened by internalism’s focus on specific cultural traditions, using established archaeological methods to "search for the signatures" of oral narratives in the local archaeological record (Yellowhorn 2006: 137). Such an approach values a local understanding of history grounded firmly in a global anthropological context, and is best achieved through the development of applicable theoretical frameworks borne of rigorous professionalism (Yellowhorn 2006: 195).