.. NUMU VIEWS OF NUMU CULTURES AND mSTORY: CULTURAL STEWARDSHIP ISSUES AND A PUNOWN VIEW OF GOSillTE AND SHOSHONE ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE NORTHEAST GREAT BASIN by MELYIN G. BREWSTER A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department ofAnthropology and the Graduate School ofthe University ofOregon in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy December 2003 11 "Numu Views ofNumu Cultures and History: Cultural Stewardship Issues and a Punown View ofGosiute and Shoshone Archaeology in the Northeast Great Basin," a dissertation prepared by Melvin G. Brewster in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the Doctor ofPhilosophy degree in the Department ofAnthropology. This dissertation has been approved and accepted by: Committee in Charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair Dr. Jon Erlandson Dr. Lawrence Sugiyama Dr. Scott DeLancey Accepted by: Dean ofthe Graduate School ----------- F 111 © 2003 Melvin G. Brewster F IV An Abstract ofthe Dissertation of Melvin G. Brewster for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy in the Department ofAnthropology to be taken December 2003 Title: NUMU VIEWS OF NTJMU CULTURES AND HISTORY: CULTURAL STEWARDSHIP ISSUES AND A PUNOWN VIEW OF GOSIUTE AND SHOSHONE ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE NORTHEAST GREAT BASIN Approved: - '---------- Dr. C. Melvin Aikens The culture history ofthe northeastern Great Basin, as currently written by the archaeological profession, is silent as to the view ofGosiute and Shoshone natives about their own ancestors. The goal ofthis dissertation is the infusion ofPunown (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 ofresearch no consensus yet exists as to the origins ofthe Northern Uto-Aztecan speaking Numic peoples (Punown). In spite ofthat, and in spite ofthe f~ that it takes no account ofthe natives' own view oftheir origins, the Numic Expansion Hypothesis is being used in a way by .. r v some archaeologists and cultural resource managers that denies to the Punown their cultural heritage. The archaeological record ofthe region, extending back into deep time, is rich in the similarities it shows with the native Punown cultures ofthe contact-historic period. The epistemology and spiritual beliefs ofthe 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 ofsites and places throughout the region that their own spiritual traditions tell them they are responsible for. The mainstream anthropological concept ofscience and the epistemology ofthe 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 ofearlier untenable Euroamerican views ofNumic 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 ofPunown epistemology into current archaeological practice offers a basis for pooling Punown and mainstream anthropological approaches to the prehistory ofthe 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. ---- q VI CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Melvin G. Brewster PLACE OF BIRTH: Walker River Paiute Reservation, Schurz, Nevada DATE OF BIRTH: Apri113, 1960 GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University ofOregon Sonoma State University University ofNevada-Reno Truckee Meadows Community College DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor ofPhilosophy in Anthropology, 2003, University ofOregon Master ofArts in Cultural Resource Management, 1994, Sonoma State University Bachelor ofArts, 1988, University ofNevada Reno Associate ofArts, 1984, Truckee Meadows Community College AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Applied Archaeology Northern Uto-Aztecan Prehistory and Patrimony Issues Cultural Resource Management PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Tribal Historic Preservation Office Director, Skull Valley Band ofGosiute Indians. Salt Lake City, Utah, 2002-2003 Anthropological and Psychological, Instructor. Western Nevada Community College. Hawthorne and Yerington, Nevada, 2000-2001. T* Vll Principal Investigator, Internal Indian Affairs. Schurz, Nevada, 1997-2003 Archaeologist, Bureau ofLand Management, Salt Lake City, Utah. 1992-1996 Archaeologist, Bureau OfLand Management, Elko, Reno, Nevada 1990-1992 Archaeologist, United States Forest Service, Eureka, California 1989-1990 GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS: Undergraduate Scholarship, Bureau ofIndian Affairs, 1982-1987 Employee Excellence Award, Bureau ofLand Management, 1996 Roy Jones Scholarship, Oregon Archaeological Society, 1997-1998 Laurel Award, University ofOregon, 1998-2003 PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS: Brewster, Melvin G. 1989a Six Rivers National Forest Mineral Withdrawal Relinquishments. Supervisors Office, USFS, Eureka, California. 1989b Subsurface Investigation Report for Site 05-10-54-321. Supervisors Office, USFS, Eureka, California. 1990a Rinehart Well andPipeline. Elko Field Office, BLM, Nevada. 1990b Susie Creek Riparian Enclosure. Elko Field Office, BLM, Nevada 1991a Midas, Emergency Fire Rehabilitation, Electric Fence, andSeeding. Elko Field Office, BLM, Nevada. 1991b Native American or City ofElko Expansion. Elko Field Office, BLM, Nevada. 1992a Stony Point Weather Station andAccess Road. Elko Field Office, BLM, Nevada. 1992b Huntsman Spring Pipeline. Elko Field Office, BLM, Nevada. 1 , V111 1992c Highway 40 Power line. Elko Field Office, BLM, Nevada. 1992d The ArchaeologicalReconnaissance ofFour Well PadLocations on BehalfofForeland Corporation. Contract report, for D.L. Zerga and Associates, Elko Field Office, BLM. Nevada. 1993a The Larson Exchange. Salt Lake Field Office, BLM, Salt Lake City. 1993b Horseshoe Springs Dikes. Salt Lake Field Office, BLM, Salt Lake City. 1993c The Oquirr Exchange. Salt Lake Field Office, BLM, Salt Lake City. 1994a Planning for Cultural Resources on Walker River Paiute Tribal Lands. Masters degree thesis, Department of Anthropology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California. 1994b The Boyd War Exchange. Salt Lake Field Office, BLM, Salt Lake City. 1994c High Country Estates. Salt Lake Field Office, BLM, Salt Lake City. 1995a Emergency Fire Rehabilitation. Salt Lake Field Office, BLM, Salt Lake City. 1995b Terra Emergency Fire Rehabilitation. Salt Lake Field Office, BLM, Salt Lake City. 1996a Archaeology, Conformity, and the Numic Alternative in the Eastern Great Basin. 25th Annual Great Basin Anthropology Conference, in Method and Theory Symposia. Kings Beach, Nevada. 1996b Puddle Valley Emergency Fire Rehabilitation. Salt Lake Field Office, BLM, Salt Lake City. 1997 Predictive Model for u.s. Highway 395 Corridor from California to Washington Border. Oregon State Museum of Anthropology, Eugene. - • --,- I lX 1998a Numu Views on Numu Culture History. Paper presented at the 26th Annual Great Basin Conference, Bend Oregon. 1998b An Interim Assessment ofRepatriation Concerning Numu and Federal andState Agency Native American Consultation Compliance with NAGPRA. Confidential NAGPRA report submitted to Pyramid Lake Paiute and Fallon Paiute/Shoshone Tribes. Internal Indian Affairs, Schurz, Nevada. 1998c An Archaeological Inventory Along the Lower Walker River, Mineral County, Nevada. Internal Indian Affairs, Schurz, Nevada. 1998c An ARPA Assessment ofthe Northern Marble BluffCave Locality. Bureau ofIndian Affairs, Phoenix, Arizona. 1999a Planningfor Repatriation ofNumu Ancestors. Confidential NAGPRA document, for the Pyramid Lake and Fallon Paiute/Shoshone Tribes. Internal Indian Affairs, Schurz, Nevada. 1999b Archaeological Inventory of Proposed High School, Washoe County, Nevada. Bureau ofIndian Affairs, Phoenix Area Office. 2000a An Archaeological Inventory of Well and Pipeline Sites, Washoe County, Nevada. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon. 2000b Sub-Surface Probe of Inadvertent Discovery at Walker River Paiute-Housing and Urban Development Pipeline Site. Internal Indian Affairs, Schurz, Nevada. 2003a Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of 1500 Acres, on the Confederated Goshute Indian Reservation, Ibapah, Utah. Internal Indian Affairs, Schurz, Nevada. 2003b Ute (Nutsiyu), Southern Paiute (Nuwuvi), Punown (related Numic speaking people): Cultural Affiliation of the Pectol Shields. Confidential NAGPRA document, Band Skull Valley Band of Gosiute Indians, Salt Lake City. 2003c Tribal Historic Preservation Program Planfor the Assumption of State Historic Preservation Office Functions. Skull Valley Band of Gosiute Indians, Salt Lake City - T x Brewster, Melvin G. and Scott Carpenter 2000 An ArchaeologicalInvestigation