Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Native Peoples and Archaeology in the Northeastern United States

17. Indigenous Archaeology in Southern New England: Case Studies from the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation

17. Indigenous Archaeology in Southern New England Case Studies from the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation 7G>6C 9 ?DC:H 6C9 @:K>C 6 B87G>9: n the fall of 1982, shortly before the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe received federal recognition, Tribal Chairman Richard “Skip” Hayward approached Kevin McBride, then a University of Connecticut graduate student, to assist in identifying collections and gathering research materials for the creation of a Mashantucket Pequot Museum. Hayward noted to McBride that there was a lot of “interesting stuff” on the 87-ha reservation in which he might be interested. In the summer of 1983, with the aid of a National Park Service Survey and Planning Grant administered through the Connecticut Historical Commission, McBride confirmed the presence of numerous above-ground cultural features. Since the tribe’s federal recognition in the fall of 1983, the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation, in Ledyard, Connecticut, has grown to over 600 ha with an additional 2,023 ha held by the tribe in fee simple (Figure 17.1). Since 1983 over $300,000 have been provided by state and federal agencies to fund archaeological surveys and excavations on the reservation. Granting agencies have included the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, and the Connecticut Historical Commission. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe has also provided over $1 million in funding for archaeological surveys, conservation, and research. The tribe currently supports a full-time staff of archaeologists, conservaI  tors, and historical researchers at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (mpmrc). The University of Connecticut has conducted its annual summer field school in archaeology on the reservation since 1983, and the tribe continues to support academic research on a number of topics related to paleoenvironmental reconstruction, archaeology, and Native, African, and colonial history (e.g., Currie and McBride 2001; Forrest 1999; Jones 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002; Jones and Forrest 2003; McBride 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998; McWeeney 1994). The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe values and supports archaeological research on a scale that has rarely been duplicated elsewhere in Indian country, with the possible exception of the Navajo and Zuni archaeological programs. This chapter outlines the numerous historical and contemporary factors that have led to the development of the archaeology program at Mashantucket and the tribe’s ongoing support of archaeological and historical research. Mashantucket Pequot Historical Context The Mashantucket Pequot Reservation is one of the oldest continuously occupied cultural landscapes in the United States. The national signifiFigure 17.1. Location of the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation in Ledyard, Connecticut (Prepared by Brian Jones). Jones and McBride  cance of the Mashantucket Reservation was recognized in 1996 when it was designated the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation Archaeological District National Landmark (McBride 1998). The reservation is located in the geographic center of the traditional homeland of the Pequots and was used primarily for seasonal and temporary hunting and plant collecting by the Pequots during the early seventeenth century (McBride 1990). Archaeological surveys and excavations at Mashantucket have documented a continuous record of occupation from the Paleoindian period (ca. 10,500 b.p. [years before present]) through the twentieth century (Jones 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002; Jones and Forrest 2003; Forrest 1999; McBride 1990, 1992, 1993). Over 250 archaeological sites have been identified at Mashantucket over the last 20 years. They include more than 150 historic and 200 prehistoric components. This unique archaeological record is the result of environmental and historical factors that have shaped the landscape and cultural history of Mashantucket. The Great Cedar Swamp, a 202-ha wetland in the center of the reservation, has been a focal point of Native American land use and settlement since the first human inhabitants arrived in the region over 10,000 years ago. Detailed palynological, plant macrofossil, and sediment analyses have documented regional and local environmental changes at Cedar Swamp over the last 15,000 years (McWeeney 1994, 1999; Thorson and Webb 1991). This research, combined with archaeological surveys and excavations, has resulted in one of the most comprehensive studies of human interaction with the physical and social environments compiled in the Northeast. Ironically, the same factors that attracted Native peoples to Mashantucket for millennia diminished the usefulness of the area for Euroamerican settlers thousands of years later. The swampy, hilly, moraine-scarred environment at Mashantucket was not attractive to early Euroamerican settlers, but it was considered suitable for an Indian reservation. As a result , the Native presence at Mashantucket increased...