Why Am I Ephemeral?: Foregrounding Ndee Perceptions of Our Past as Persistence

Abstract

Various terms and descriptions have been used to explain the lack of visibility of Ndee (Apache) landscape occupations and material traces over time. Such terms as low-visibility, highly mobile, and ephemeral are abundant in the archaeological and anthropological literature in reference to Ndee groups throughout the U.S. Southwest. Such terms imply a lack of material or environmental modifications is equivalent to non-existence. Archaeologists have spent much time attempting to construct diagnostic material check-lists suggesting Ndee landscape presence but often miss the critical ongoing associations Ndee communities have to the land beyond material remains. Such associations form understandings of the past, present and future that inform Ndee culture, identity, sovereignty and overall well-being beyond archaeological reasoning. Therefore, what is needed is not only continued collaborative research with Ndee communities, but moving beyond such collaborations defined by western research goals and assumptions. Looking at questions of Indigenous presence and applying Indigenous methodologies can help archaeologists better understand how the past defines the present. Moreover, restrictive archaeological recording categories and terminologies often perpetuate one-sided and stereotypical understandings of Ndee culture and history. This chapter attempts to highlight examples of contemporary Ndee lived experiences in reference to ongoing visibility over time despite restrictions imp…