Thank you @SAAorg for retracting the statement. Unfortunately, as the President well understands given his own work in #Indigenous #Archaeology, a retraction will not undo the harm that has been caused by aligning with two archaeologists with a record of complaints by tribes. https://twitter.com/SAAorg/status/1275829890873524230

There is a process the SAA has used to issue statements on #NAGPRA and #Repatriation that allows for committees to advise. While the board has rarely followed the advisory comments of the Comm. on Native Am. Relations, we have at least been able to provide our expertise.

The SAA President informed the Comm. yesterday that he did get approval from Govt. Affairs and #Repatriation committees before he sent the letter to UCOP. Curious that the retraction now says that no other committees approved the letter. #archaeology

The SAA Pres. is himself an #Indigenous #archaeologist who has a lengthy career in #NAGPRA and #Repatriation. He knows the importance of mutual respect and trust is developing relationships with tribes. In issuing this statement he has undone his own work and that of #indigarch

Comm. On Native Am. Relations has long lobbied for active participation of #THPOs in @SAAorg. I cannot, in good conscience, ask THPOs to attend #SAA2021 when the head of the org again issued a statement that privileges the convenience of reasearchers over tribal sovereignty.

But this letter doesn't just point to the SAA's long history of excluding, marginalizing, and erasing #Indigenous perspectives in the practice of #archaeology and stewardship of cultural heritage.

The signed letter to UCOP was delivered on June 19th. There's symbolism in the SAA delivering a letter that seeks to limit #Indigenous control over ancestors' remains on Juneteenth. #archaeology

Here is the letter to UCOP sent on Juneteenth, signed by the SAA President. It is a full sale endorsement of Loukas Barton and Micah Hale's positions. #archaeology #NAGPRA #Repatriation

SAA's assertion that #archaeology and archaeologists should have control over #Indigenous bodies, graves, and heritage represents a larger claim: that archaeologists are the stewards of the archaeological record.

In North America this prompts us to consider what it means when a discipline that is majority white and non-Indigenous claims to control a record that has, by and large, been created by #Indigenous peoples and nations.

But in reasserting the SAA's claim to control #Indigenous bodies, graves, and pasts *on* Juneteenth, it's also highlighting that this claim extends to *all* bodies. #archaeology

#NAGPRA and #Repatriation extends to federally recognized tribes and was hard won legislation in the US by Native American tribes. It is incomplete in several regards--as we can see by the UCOP's own work to modify its #Repatriation policies so that Indigenous can are returned.

But it's incomplete in another, important regards: there is no corresponding piece of legislation that allows for the repatriation of Black bodies held by our institutions and repositories. In many cases these are the bodies of slaves who continue to remain owned even in death.

When SAA issued it's call for archaeologists to confront racial injustice statement, there was no mention of how #archaeology retains authority and ownership over Black bodies. https://www.saa.org/quick-nav/saa-media-room/saa-news/2020/06/02/saa-joins-the-national-call-for-comprehensive-justice

Addressing "the impact of structural inequalities then and now" necessitates that we examine our own complicity in violence against Black bodies and people.

The @SbaArch has been doing excellent work to assess structural inequalities in #archaeology and its members, like #indigarch, are showing us a different way to care for the past. https://www.societyofblackarchaeologists.com/ 

@SbaArch is hosting this webinar tomorrow. If you haven't registered, do so! https://twitter.com/AliciaOdewale/status/1275140594818519041?s=20

In reflecting on SAA's Juneteenth letter, we as a field need to do better. Do better for #Indigenous peoples and Native nations, and all of the other peoples whose heritage (and bodies) we claim to care for. #repatriation #archaeology

That we have an Indigenous President and they still signed onto a letter that contradicted his statement today that "Indigenous peoples should always be valued before the convenience of researchers" should be a wakeup call for #archaeology and #indigarch.

That for me is a huge takeaway. One person, at the seat of power, can't change business as usual. But the collective voices of everyone who called and emailed and asked questions resulted in a swift retraction. #archaeology #repatriation #NAGPRA

But considerable work remains to be done to support the work of #Repatriation and #NAGPRA in #archaeology, which is but one facet of dismantling white supremacy in our discipline.