The National Science Foundation is providing continued support to the Society for American Archaeology's Native American Scholarship Committee in the form of scholarships for archaeological training to Native American and Hawaiian students or tribal cultural resource program personnel. The pre-contact past is a major focus of archaeological research in the United States, yet Native Americans and Native Hawaiians, the peoples whose pasts are the subject of study, have been dramatically underrepresented in the field of archaeology. The need for Native Americans trained in the theories, methods, and procedures of archaeology and cultural resource management is important given the burgeoning of cultural resource management programs throughout the United States and the more extensive reach of tribal preservation programs and programs of "cultural sovereignty" in which only tribal members are allowed to carry out necessary research. Recognizing the need to improve relations between archaeologists and Native communities and the importance of increasing involvement of Native people in archaeology, in 1988 the SAA established the Native American Scholarship Fund (NASF) to assist and encourage Native Americans and Native Hawaiians to pursue archaeological training The Society for American Archaeology began a concerted effort in 1997 to increase the number of Native Americans and Native Hawaiians trained in archaeological field methods with the establishment of the Arthur C. Parker Scholarship. The scholarship is named in honor of the first SAA president, who served from 1935 to 1936. Arthur C. Parker was of Seneca ancestry through his father's family, and he spent his youth on the Cattaraugus Reservation in New York. The Society for American Archaeology has supported the training of Native American and Hawaiian students since 1998 through the award of a $3,000 Scholarship for summer training in archaeological theory and field methods. With the previous NSF support (National Science Foundation Scholarships for Archaeological Training for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians), the top four candidates out of yearly pools of 10-14 applicants received scholarships. The highest ranked individual was awarded the Arthur C. Parker Scholarship. The next three highest ranked individuals each received a scholarship funded by NSF. This program thus far has enabled 32 Native Americans or Native Hawaiians who might not otherwise have been able to obtain this training to better understand archaeological methods and to carry that understanding back to their Native communities. In this current award the amount will be raised to $4,000 per student. This scholarship program effectively promotes Native American and Native Hawaiian participation in archaeology and facilitates training in archaeological methods. Through the program, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians bring to their communities a better understanding of archaeology. In addition, the other (non-Native) participants of the training programs/field schools are provided with an experience that will help them to better integrate the goals of native people and of archaeology.
