Date of Award

Fall 11-22-2024

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in Anthropology

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Anthropology

First Advisor

Bonnie Clark

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Indigenous communities, North American Central Plains, Technology, Hunting, Archaeology

Abstract

In this thesis I investigate how Indigenous communities of the North American Central Plains navigated settler-colonialism by adapting traditional hunting technology. To frame this I ask, how and why traditional technology was favored over introduced firearm technology? I investigate this by examining archaeological collections from Fort Vasquez and the Coffin's Buffalo Kill Site, ethnographic history of the Central Plains, Indigenous ledger art, and interviewing a ledger artist. This study uses a multifaceted theoretical approach to connect hybrid projectile point artifacts, with Indigenous historic documentation, to recognize Indigenous agency in the 19th century. This thesis counters historic narratives of the 19th century that portray Indigenous North American communities as stagnant, lacking efficient technology, and only victims while ignoring their agency, abilities, and prowess. By incorporating Indigenous documented history, this work contributes to the larger movement in archaeology to highlight Indigenous survivance (Vizenor 2009).

Copyright Date

11-2024

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Aaron Toussaint

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

165 pgs

File Size

24.4 MB

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