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“An Acre of Land to Plant or a Stick of Wood to Make a Fence or Fire”: An Archaeology of Mohegan Allotment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2024

Craig N. Cipolla Open the ORCID record for Craig N. Cipolla [Opens in a new window] ,
James Quinn  and
Jay Levy
Craig N. Cipolla*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
James Quinn
Affiliation:
Mohegan Tribal Historic Preservation Office and Archaeology Department, Uncasville, CT, USA
Jay Levy
Affiliation:
Mohegan Tribal Historic Preservation Office and Archaeology Department, Uncasville, CT, USA
*
Corresponding author: Craig N. Cipolla; Email: Craig.Cipolla@tufts.edu
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Abstract

Although land loss is among the most profound impacts that settler colonialism had for Indigenous societies across North America, archaeologists rarely study one of the principal colonial mechanisms of land dispossession: allotment. This process forever altered the course of North American history, breaking up collectively held Indigenous lands into lots “owned” by individuals and families while further stressing local Indigenous subsistence patterns, social relations, political organization, and more. Archaeology's long-term, material, and sometimes collaborative vantage stands to offer insights on this process and how it played out for Indigenous peoples in different times and places. As its case study, this article considers the allotment of Mohegan lands in southeastern Connecticut (USA). An archaeology of Mohegan allotment speaks to more than land loss and cultural change. It provides evidence of an enduring and long-term Indigenous presence on the land; of the challenges faced and overcome by Mohegan peoples living through, and with, settler colonialism; and of the nuances of Indigenous-colonial archaeological records. This study also shows the importance of Indigenous and collaborative archaeologies for shedding new light on these challenging but important archaeological traces.

Resumen

Resumen

Aunque la pérdida de tierras es uno de los efectos más profundos que el colonialismo tuvo en las sociedades indígenas de Norteamérica, los arqueólogos raramente estudian uno de los principales mecanismos coloniales de desposesión de tierras: la asignación. Este proceso alteró para siempre el curso de la historia de Norte América, dividiendo las tierras indígenas de propiedad colectiva en lotes “propiedad” de individuos y familias, al tiempo que alteraba aún más las pautas locales de subsistencia, las relaciones sociales y la organización política de los indígenas. La posición ventajosa de la arqueología, a largo plazo, material y a veces colaborativa, permite comprender este proceso y cómo afectó a los pueblos indígenas en diferentes épocas y lugares. En este artículo se estudia el caso de la adjudicación de tierras de los Mohegan en el sureste de Connecticut (Estados Unidos). La arqueología de la adjudicación de los Mohegan habla de algo más que de la pérdida de tierras y el cambio cultural. Aporta pruebas de una presencia indígena duradera y a largo plazo en la tierra, de los retos que afrontan y superan los pueblos Mohegan que viven a través y con el colonialismo, y de los matices de los registros arqueológicos indígenas-coloniales. Este estudio muestra también la importancia de las arqueologías indígenas y colaborativas para arrojar nueva luz sobre estas difíciles pero importantes huellas arqueológicas.

Keywords

allotmentIndigenous presencehistorical archaeologyNew EnglandMohegancollaborative Indigenous archaeologycolonialismsettler colonialismasignaciónpresencia indígenaarqueología históricaNueva InglaterraMoheganarqueología indígena colaborativacolonialismocolonialismo de colonos
Type
Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 1 , January 2025 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

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