Challenging Colonialism

In our previous episode we explored an example of collaborative, Tribal centered archaeology in looking at the Amah Mutsun Summer Archaeology Program, which collaborated between the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and Archaeology students and professors at the University of Oregon. In this episode we speak with Dr, Kent Lightfoot, recently retired Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught and trained dozens of Archaeologists. Dr. Lightfoot is well known for his advocacy for doing Archaeology that aligns with, and is led by Tribal interests, a departure from the colonial approach to archaeology that we explored in Season 2 of our podcast.

For further reading:

Books:

Indians, Missionaries, and Merchants: The Legacy of Colonial Encounters on the California Frontiers, by Kent Lightfoot

California Indians and Their Environment: An Introduction, by Kent Lightfoot & Otis Parrish

Inclusion, Transformation, and Humility in North American Archaeology: Essays and Other “Great Stuff” Inspired by Kent G. Lightfoot, Edited by Seth Mallios, Sara L. Gonzalez, Michael Grone, Kathleen L. Hull, Peter Nelson, and Stephen W. Silliman

Articles:

"The Study of Sustained Colonialism: An Example from the Kashaya Pomo Homeland in Northern California," by Kent Lightfoot & Sara L. Gonzalez.

"The Study of Indigenous Management Practices in California: An Introduction," by Kent Lightfoot & Amah Mutsun Tribal Chair Valentin Lopez.

Recent Collaborative Archeaological Fieldwork on the Santa Cruz Coast, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band website.

Archaeology’s Diachronic Dimension, Historical Anthropology, and the Hawaiian-Shirt Renaissance: An Interview with Kent Lightfoot, by Seth Mallios, conducted in 2004.

In our last season, we explored the problematic colonial roots of the academic fields of Anthropology and Archaeology, "Salvage Anthropology" and legacies of extractive and exploitation of Indigenous communities. In this episode we will share an example of how some contemporary archaeologists are working closely with Tribal members to focus their research on issues that are of interest and helpful for Tribal members. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band has been working closely with Archaeologists over the last fifteen years, culminating in a Summer Archaeology Program that draws together Archaeology students and Tribal members from the Amah Mutsun and other partnering Tribes, in a collaborative learning and field work project.

Speakers:

Amah Mutsun Tribal Members, Gabriel Pineida & Elizabeth Rodriguez, Cameron Dakota-Chow Garcia (Chalon Ohlone-Esselen, Zacateco), Amah Mutsun Land Trust Cultural Resources Program Manager, Alec Apodaca, and Gabe Sanchez, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon.

For further reading / listening:

Collaborative Archaeology Field Schools: Perspectives from the Central California Coast, Gabriel Sanchez & Alec Apodaca, 2026.

2025 Summer Internship Program: Collaborative Archaeology, Heritage, and Cultural Landscapes

Recent Collaborative Archaeological Fieldwork on the Santa Cruz Coast

California Archaeology, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2013) - Special journal examining the collaborative work done by California State Parks, UC Berkeley Archaeology Department, and members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.

You can listen to our previous episodes about the historic problems in Archaeology at these links:

s02e02: Salvage Anthropology "A Nasty Business"

s02e03: The Legacy of Kroeber, Ishi, & UC Berkeley

This episode includes an interview with Tony Platt, author of The Scandal of Cal: Land Grabs, White Supremacy, and Miseducation at UC Berkeley.

Dr. Platt is the author of thirteen books and 150 essays and articles on race, inequality, and social justice in American history, among them Beyond These Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States; Bloodlines: Recovering Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws, from Patton’s Trophy to Public Memorial; and The Child Savers: The Invention of Delinquency.

In this interview he also discusses the book he wrote prior to this one, Grave Matters: The Controversy over Excavating California’s Buried Indigenous Past, which explores the Indigenous led fight to protect burial sites up in Humboldt County in the 1970s and 80s. We encourage you to check out both books.

You can find more about Dr. Platt's work on these topics in the following articles:

"A Top UC Berkeley Professor Taught With Remains That May Include Dozens of Native Americans," ProPublica, March 5, 2023.

The Repatriation Project: The Delayed Return of Native Remains

The Repatriation Project: NAGPRA Database

For more on the history of UC Berkeley and Alfred Kroeber, give a listen to our podcast episode on these topics:

s02e03: The Legacy of Kroeber, Ishi, & UC Berkeley

On NAGPRA and Repatriation, listen to:

s02e04: "You Have Disturbed Our Ancestors" (NAGPRA p.I)

s02e05: "Bury Them with Dignity" (NAGPRA p. II)

s02e06: "This Work Has to be Done" (NAGPRA p.III)

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interview: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

"Chumash Uprising" logo artwork: John Jota Leaños

This episode includes an interview with Caitlin Keliiaa about her new book, Refusing Settler Domesticity: Native Women's Labor and Resistance in the Bay Area Outing Program. Dr. Keliiaa's study explores the history of young Native women’s lives and experiences as Bay Area domestic workers through the San Francisco Bay Area Outing Program, connected with the Indian Boarding Schools.

You can find more on Dr. Keliiaa's work at her website, or follow her on her instagram.

You can purchase her book online with a 40% off discount by using the following link and discount code:

tinyurl.com/keliiaa

Use the code WASHOE for 40% off

If you are based in the SF Bay Area and want to buy the book from a local bookseller, you can find it at Books on B in Hayward and the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) gift shop.

For more on the Indian Boarding Schools, with a focus on California, you can listen to our previous podcast episode, which included Dr. Keliiaa:

https://rss.com/podcasts/challengingcolonialism/480178/

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interview: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

"Chumash Uprising" logo artwork: John Jota Leaños

As we resume the Challenging Colonialism podcast after a break, we will be diving into a series of book talks with Indigenous Californian scholars and allies. We are fortunate to be in a time where there are many excellent and important studies being published. We wanted to share these works with our listeners.

The first in this series is the new book Indigenizing California Mission Art and Architectur,e, by Dr. Yve Chavez. You can find her work at the following links:

Indigenizing California Mission Art and Architecture

Visualizing Genocide: Indigenous Interventions in Art, Archives, and Museums

“Remembering Our Ancestors: Photographing Mission San Gabriel’s Cemetery," inVisualizing Genocide: Indigenous Interventions in Art, Archives, and Museums, edited by Yve Chavez and Nancy Marie Mithlo, 21-37. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2022.https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv3006zsc.7

“Eighteenth-Century Loom and Basket Weaving at the California Missions,” Journal18, Issue 18 Craft (Fall 2024), https://www.journal18.org/7537.

“Decolonizing California Mission Art and Architecture Studies.” In The Routledge Companion to Decolonizing Art History, edited by Tatiana E. Flores, Charlene Villaseñor Black, and Florencia San Martin, 286-296. New York: Routledge, 2023. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003152262

For more from Dr. Yve Chavez, give a listen to our very first episode on the Bell Removal movement, which included an interview with Dr. Chavez:

s01e01 Instruments of Colonization

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interview: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Audio from the "We will protect Juristac" event at UC Santa Cruz, hosted by the American Indian Resource Center (AIRC) held on 11/9/24.

SPEAKERS:

• Valentin Lopez - Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band

• Athena Hernandez, Esq. - Tribal Member & Attorney for the Amah Mutsun Land Trust

• Alexii Sigona - Tribal Member & Chair of the Lands Committee of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, PhD Candidate @ UC Berkeley

• Julisa Lopez, PhD - Tribal Member & UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow @ UCSC

Links & Resources:

https://www.protectjuristac.org/

https://www.protectjuristac.org/petition/

https://www.protectjuristac.org/resources/

The final episode of our 3 part special series explores a variety of ways to show solidarity with Palestine, with a focus on the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering at Alcatraz last Fall. We are publishing during escalating police and institutional repression against Palestine solidarity encampments which are spreading rapidly on college and university campuses.

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Sounds recorded at Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony, Nov 2023, by Lloyd Molina IV

Speakers:

Dr. Lila Sharif

Corrina Gould

Morning Star Gali

Dr. Randa May Wahbe

Dr. Stephanie Lumsden

Dr. Mark Minch-de Leon

Dr. Nour Joudah

Rana Sharif

Dr. Brittani Orona

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Dr. Jennifer Mogannam

Links:

Indigenous Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz, 2024

Indigenous People for a Free Palestine

Anti-Zionism as Decolonisation

National Students for Justice in Palestine

To Palestine with Love - A Message of Peace from Turtle Island

The Red Lake Nation & Its Solidarity with Palestine

Palestinian Feminist Collective

Palestinian Youth Movement

“All Out For Palestine“

American Muslims for Palestine

Palestinian American Cultural Center

Arab Resource and Organizing Center

US Palestinian Community Network

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

BDS site

The Palestine Project

SWANA Region Radio Podcast

Part 2 of 3 part series. As a podcast focused on illuminating ongoing colonialism and genocide, we recognize the need to address genocide happening right now in occupied Palestine and to stand in solidarity. Our podcast is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Indigenous communities who are left out of official discourse. As such, it is important to amplify the voices of Palestinians right now, as the mainstream media fails to do so. Part 2 explores LandBack and Right of Return as well as the ways in which alternative media is helping illuminate what is happening right now. We are grateful for the time and knowledge shared by our interviewees, and hope that this series can contribute to greater understanding, solidarity, and activism in the movement towards a free Palestine.

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Sounds recorded at Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony, Nov 2023, by Lloyd Molina IV

Interviewees:

Dr. Lila Sharif

Corrina Gould

Dr. Stephanie Lumsden

Dr. Mark Minch-de Leon

Dr. Nour Joudah

Rana Sharif

Dr. Brittani Orona

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Dr. Jennifer Mogannam

Links:

The Right of Return is Landback

The Right of Return is Land Back: A Statement of Solidarity with Palestine

Decolonize Palestine

Brownwashing and Indigenous Normalization of Zionism

The Liberation of Palestine Represents an Alternative Path for Native Nations

‘This Is a Colonial War’: Historian Rashid Khalidi on Israel, Gaza & the Future of Palestine

“More than Genocide: The law occludes the abhorrent violence routinely perpetrated by states in the name of self-defense"

Palestinian Support for Indigenous Peoples’ Day Commemorations and Historical Justice from Palestine to Turtle Island

Indigenous and Arab organizers stand in solidarity with Water Protectors Resisting Line 3 Pipeline

Land Back from Turtle Island to Palestine

When Settler Becomes Native Examining the claim of Jewish indigeneity in the land of Israel

Leaked NYT Memo Tells Journalists to Avoid Words “Genocide,” Ethnic Cleansing,” and “Occupied Territory.”

This three part series was inspired by the outpouring of solidarity statements and gatherings by Indigenous Californian communities. As a podcast focused on illuminating ongoing colonialism and genocide, we recognize that it is crucial to address the genocide happening right now in occupied Palestine and to stand in solidarity. Our podcast is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Indigenous communities who are frequently left out of official discourse. As such, it is important to amplify the voices of Palestinians right now, as the mainstream media fails to do so. This 3 part series is intended to amplify the voices of Palestinians and Indigenous Californians as they identify parallels between experiences of settler colonialism in both Palestine and California. We are grateful for the time and knowledge shared by our interviewees, and hope that this series can contribute to greater understanding, solidarity, and activism in the movement towards a free Palestine.

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Sounds recorded at Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony, Nov 2023, by Lloyd Molina IV

Interviewees:

Dr. Lila Sharif

Corrina Gould

Dr. Stephanie Lumsden

Dr. Mark Minch-de Leon

Morning Star Gali

Dr. Nour Joudah

Rana Sharif

Dr. Brittani Orona

Dr. Randa May Wahbe

Dr. Vanessa Esquivido

Dr. Jennifer Mogannam

Links:

CISSA’s Statement on Palestine

Red Nation: Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine

Indigenous Solidarity with Palestine Letter (to sign)

Palestinian olive farmers hold tight to their roots amid surge in settler attacks, by Vidal

The Destruction of Palestine Is the Destruction of the Earth, Malm

“Ethnic cleansing and the formation of settler colonial geographies,” Gordon & Ram

Vanishing Palestine, Lila Sharif

Savory Politics: Land, Memory, and the Ecological Occupation of Palestine, Sharif

From the US to Palestine: Indigenous resistance to transnational settler colonialism, Koutteineh

Settler Moves to Indigeneity: From Canada to Israel, Scribe

False Messiahs: How Zionism’s dreams of liberation became entangled with colonialism, Rubin

Our 10th and final episode of Season 2 extends our critique on the history of colonial acquisitions and collections with a focus on the colonial legacies of the institutions of Museums. We focus on the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, recent movements to 'decolonize' museums as with the Museum of Us in San Diego, and discuss whether it is possible to ultimately decolonize these institutions.

Speakers:

Dr. Amy Lonetree (enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation), Dr. Alírio Karina, Dr. Samuel Redman, Gregg Castro (t'rowt'raahl Salinan / Rumsien & Ramaytush Ohlone), Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy (Hupa, Yurok, Karuk), Nicole Lim (Pomo), Dr. Micah Parzen, Dr. Chris Green

Audio editing: Daniel Stonebloom

Interviews: Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music: G. Gonzales

Special advisor on this episode: Kathleen Aston.

Links & Further Reading:

California Indian Museum & Cultural Center

Acorn Bites

Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums, Amy Lonetree

The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations, Edited by Amy Lonetree and Amanda J. Cobb

“Decolonizing Museums, Memorials, and Monuments,” The Public Historian, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 21–27 (November 2021), Amy Lonetree

Museum of Us

“Race: Are we so different?” Exhibit

Museum of Us: Colonial Pathways Policy

Against and Beyond the Museum, Alírio Karina