xvi, 187 p. : ill., maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT E99.N97 B74 2003 / The culture history of the northeastern Great Basin, as currently written by the
archaeological profession, is silent as to the view of Gosiute and Shoshone natives about
their own ancestors. The goal of this dissertation is the infusion of Punown (interrelated
Numic speaking peoples) epistemology into mainstream anthropological interpretation, as
provided through North American Desert West prehistory. The hypothesized Numic
expansion into the Northeast Great Basin, according to which the Punown natives now
resident throughout the region are very recent immigrants, is problematic on several
grounds. In the dissertation I show that late population movement into this region by
Numic ancestors has not been demonstrated. After a hundred years of research no
consensus yet exists as to the origins of the Northern Uto-Aztecan speaking Numic peoples
(Punown). In spite of that, and in spite of the fact that it takes no account of the natives'
own view of their origins, the Numic Expansion Hypothesis is being used in a way by some archaeologists and cultural resource managers that denies to the Punown their
cultural heritage. The archaeological record of the region, extending back into deep time, is
rich in the similarities it shows with the native Punown cultures of the contact-historic
period. The epistemology and spiritual beliefs of the Punown also assert their cultural
continuity with the ancient traditions documented in that archaeological recoret;It is not
acceptable that a scientific hypothesis impedes native people's role in the care and
stewardship of sites and places throughout the region that their own spiritual traditions tell
them they are responsible for.
The mainstream anthropological concept of science and the epistemology of the
Punown are opposed diametrically. Punown view the world and its people as
interconnected through the Sacred Earth Matrix, while anthropologists see the human
world as bifurcated from nature. Punown understand archaeology and relatedness
spiritually, while archaeologists see dead objects in an "objectified" way. Conformity to the
existing paradigm, with its persistent building and rebuilding of earlier untenable
Euroamerican views of Numic origins, makes the Punown outsiders to the region in which
they live. This goes on even though many scholars, reviewing the case for a Numic
Expansion, find it seriously lacking. Infusion of Punown epistemology into current
archaeological practice offers a basis for pooling Punown and mainstream anthropological
approaches to the prehistory of the Desert West. A mutually enhancing research partnership
based on beneficial objectives is advocated; this will go far to repair a strained relationship
that now exists between Punown and archaeological researchers, and result in a fuller and
richer history for all to contemplate. / Committee in Charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Jon Erlandson; Dr. Lawrence Sugiyama; Dr. Scott DeLancey
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uoregon.edu/oai:scholarsbank.uoregon.edu:1794/9452 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Brewster, Melvin G., 1960- |
| Publisher | University of Oregon |
| Source Sets | University of Oregon |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Relation | University of Oregon theses, Dept. of Anthropology, Ph. D., 2003; |
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