Traditional knowledge, ritual behavior, and contemporary interpretations of the archaeological record-an ojibwa perspective

The implementation of federal laws aimed at preserving Native American religious practices and associated resources has opened an opportunity to revisit the vast body of accumulated knowledge about ancient religious beliefs and corresponding behavioral systems. Whether recorded in writing or held in the memory of contemporary people, this body of knowledge contains important clues for investigating the cultural logic of native worldviews that informed religious activity. Federally mandated research conducted in collaboration with Native Americans complements ethnography and archaeology by furnishing an explicit and systematic assessment and interpretation of material culture, archaeological deposits, and associated physiography by the descendants of prehistoric religious practitioners (Zedeño 2000). Unfortunately, as Shaafsma (2004) notes in a recent article about Navajo interpretations of archaeological remains, the politics of repatriation of human remains and sacred objects as well as the recalcitrance of archaeological epistemologies have overshadowed any potential benefits and contributions of sustained interaction with Native Americans.