Tribal Archaeology as Ownership of the Ancestral Past

Through my doctoral research at Stanford University I have had the honor of working closely with tribal leadership and membership from the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area (referred to hereafter as the “Muwekma Tribe”). I began with the intention of conducting a community-based research project with the tribe, which has resulted in analyzing the macrobotanical remains from the Yukisma Cemetery Site (CA-SCL-38) excavated by the Muwekma Tribe from 1993-94. My initial interest in interacting with the tribal community has also allowed me to have the opportunity to assist in some of Muwekma’s tribal archaeology. The Muwekma Tribe has emphasized the importance of studying and learning from the remains of their ancestors and associated grave goods, as well as the protection of their ancestral heritage cemetery and village sites against construction, destruction, and academic interests (see Galvan 1968; Cambra et al. 1996). The current membership of the Muwekma Tribe consists of American Indian descendants from Mission San Jose, Mission Santa Clara, and Mission Dolores, most of whom can trace ancestry to specific Native villages and districts through genealogical research extending back to European contact and the beginning of the Spanish colonial period. While there have been intermarriages between differen