Abstract
The archaeology of Amache, the site of a WWII-era Japanese American incarceration camp, has been performed collaboratively with survivors, their families, and local residents for over a decade. This makes it an exemplary test case for how research intertwined with multiple communities can recast our discipline’s relationship to heritage. Project success has been greatly enhanced though creating opportunities for intergenerational and intercommunity engagement with the site and others who care about it. Paying equal attention to process and product allows archaeology to be positively integrated into heritage building and brings epistemological resources to the study of the past.
Résumé
L’archéologie d’Amache, le site d’un camp de prisonniers japonais-américains pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, a été entreprise de manière collaborative avec des survivants, leurs familles et des résidents locaux et ce durant plus d’une décennie. Ceci constitue un précédent exemplaire sur la manière dont la recherche lorsqu’elle est imbriquée au sein de communautés multiples peut redéfinir la relation de notre discipline avec l’héritage. Le succès du projet a été fortement accru grâce à la création d’opportunités en faveur d’une collaboration intergénérationnelle et intercommunautaire sur le site avec d’autres ayant un intérêt pour celui-ci. Une attention égale apportée au processus comme au produit permet à l’archéologie d’être intégrée positivement au sein de la construction d’un héritage et apporte des ressources épistémologiques à l’étude du passé.
Resumen
La arqueología de Amache, el sitio de un campo de encarcelamiento para los japoneses-estadounidenses durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, se ha realizado en colaboración con los sobrevivientes, sus familias y los residentes locales durante más de una década. Esto lo convierte en un caso de prueba ejemplar de cómo la investigación entrelazada con múltiples comunidades puede reformular la relación de nuestra disciplina con el patrimonio. El éxito del proyecto se ha mejorado enormemente al crear oportunidades para el compromiso intergeneracional e intercomunitario con el sitio y otros que se preocupan por él. Prestar igual atención al proceso y al producto permite que la arqueología se integre positivamente en la construcción del patrimonio y trae recursos epistemológicos al estudio del pasado.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atalay, S. (2012). Community-based archaeology: Research with, by, and for indigenous and local communities. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bender, B. (2002). Time and landscape. Current Anthropologist,43(S4), S103–S112.
Black, S. L., & Jolly, K. (2003). Archaeology by design. Walut Creek: AltaMira.
Clark, B. J. (2017). Cultivating community: The archaeology of Japanese American confinement at Amache. In F. Armstrong-Fumero & J. H. Gutierrez (Eds.), Legacies of space and intangible heritage: Archaeology, ethnohistory, and the politics of cultural continuity in the Americas (pp. 79–96). Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
Clark, B. J. (2019). Making heritage happen: The University of Denver Amache field school. In P. M. Messenger & S. J. Bender (Eds.), Archaeologists and the pedagogy of heritage (Vol. 1, pp. 168–180)., History and Approaches Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
Clark, B. J., & Amati, A. (2018). Powerful objects, difficult dialogues: Mobilizing archaeological exhibits for civic engagement. International Journal of Heritage Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1530290.
Colwell-Chanthaphonh, C., & Ferguson, T. J. (2008). Introduction: The collaborative continuum. In C. Colwell-Chanthaphonh & T. J. Ferguson (Eds.), Collaboration in archaeological practice: Engaging descendant communities (pp. 1–34). Lanham: AltaMira.
DU Amache. (2014). Recording of interview with Carlene Tanigoshi Tinker. Recording archived in the DU Amache project files, University of Denver, Anthropology Department.
Eijima, R. (2016). Uncovering the holes of our past. Pacific Citizen. Japanese American Citizens League, Los Angeles. March 4–17, pp. 4, 8.
Fujita, D. K. (2018). Returning to Amache: Former Japanese American internees assist archaeological research team. Historical Archaeology,52(3), 553–560.
Harrison, R. (2010). What is heritage? In R. Harrison (Ed.), Understanding the politics of heritage (pp. 5–42). Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Ina, S. (2009). Children of the camps: The documentary. San Francisco: Kanopy Streaming.
Kamp-Whittaker, A. (2010). Through the eyes of a child: The archaeology of WWII Japanese American internment at Amache. Master of Arts, University of Denver, Anthropology.
Keitumetse, S. (2006). UNESCO 2003 convention on intangible heritage: Practical implications for heritage management approaches in Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin,61(184), 166–171.
Kitajima, G. (2016). Uncovering a garden plot and a family history (Moments of Ma) https://northamericanjapanesegardenassociation.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/uncovering-a-garden-plot-and-a-family-history/. Accessed 15 Feb 2019.
Leong, K. (2013). Connecting with the past. The University of Denver Amache Project Newsletter. Denver, Department of Anthropology. 5: 4.
Little, B. J., & Shackel, P. A. (2007). Archaeology as a tool of civic engagement. Lanham: AltaMira Press.
Nadasdy, P. (1999). The politics of TEK: Power and the “integration” of knowledge. Arctic Anthropology,36(1/2), 1–18.
Nagata, D. K. (1993). Legacy of injustice: Exploring the cross-generational impact of the Japanese American Internment. New York: Plenum Press.
Ono, G. T. (2008). Amache night. (Discover Nikkei) http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2008/08/01/amache-night/. Accessed 1 July 2019.
Pistol, R. (2017). Internment during the Second World War: A comparative study of Great Britain and the USA. London: Bloomsbury.
Robinson, G. (2010). A tragedy of democracy: Japanese confinement in North America. New York: Columbia University Press.
Schaepe, D. M., Angelbeck, B., Snook, D., & Welch, J. R. (2017). Archaeology as therapy: Connecting belongings, knowledge, time, place, and well-being. Current Anthropology,58(4), 502–533.
Shackel, P. A., & Chambers, E. J. (Eds.). (2004). Places in mind: Public archaeology as applied anthropology. New York: Routledge.
Silliman, S. W. (Ed.). (2008). Collaborating at the Trowel’s edge: Teaching and learning in indigenous archaeology. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Silverman, R. A., & Bell, J. A. (2015). Museum as process: Translating local and global knowledges. Oxfordshire: Routledge.
Smith, L. (2006). Uses of heritage. London: Routledge.
Sterling, E. J., Filardi, C., Toomey, A., Sigouin, A., Betley, E., Gazit, N., et al. (2017). Biocultural approaches to well-being and sustainability indicators across scales. Nature Ecology & Evolution,1(12), 1798–1806.
Talley, C. (2014). Unearthing Amache: Once an internee, now a volunteer. (High Plains Public Radio) https://www.hppr.org/term/camp-amache. Accessed 1 July 2019
UNESCO. (2003). Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. https://ich.unesco.org/en/convention. Accessed 1 July 2019
Wylie, A. (2014). Community-based collaborative archaeology. In N. Cartwright & E. Montuschi (Eds.), Philosophy of social science: A new introduction (pp. 68–82). New York: Oxford University Press.
Wylie, A. (2015). A plurality of pluralisms: Collaborative practice in archaeology. In F. Padovani, A. Richardson, & J. Y. Tsou (Eds.), Objectivity in science: New perspectives from science and technology studies (pp. 189–210). Switzerland: Springer.
Acknowledgements
This article would not have been possible without the three community members who kindly allowed me to weave their voices into this piece—Gary Ono, Carlene Tanigoshi Tinker, and Kirsten Leong. Each of them read through multiple drafts of this article to make sure I had captured and interpreted our interactions faithfully. They also provided suggestions for improving the article. In particular, Kirsten (who works with communities in managing their resources) suggested the TEK article and the UNESCO convention as thoughtful parallels to the Amache work. I would also like to thank my fellow authors to this special edition who gave me much food for thought. Among those, Audrey Horning and Kelly Britt served as my peer reviewers, and their suggestions strengthened this piece. The SAA session on which this special issue is based came about because of a partnership with Meredith Chesson and without her it would never have come to be. The DU Amache Project is truly collaborative and without my crews and the many communities from which they draw and with which they work, none of this archaeology would have happened. The work at the site has been supported by many institutions, in particular the University of Denver and History Colorado, through their State Historical Fund. Thank you to them and to the many individual donors who support research at Amache.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clark, B.J. Collaborative Archaeology as Heritage Process. Arch 15, 466–480 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-019-09375-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-019-09375-6