ABSTRACT
Over the past fi fteen years I have worked as a public archaeologist on two projects dealing with the historical archaeology of African America: the Levi Jordan Plantation Project in Brazoria, Texas and, recently, the Yates Community Archaeology Project, in Houston. My public archaeology work also includes ongoing consultation with other history organisations as they develop their relationships with their publics. Over this period, I have used various theoretical, philosophical and disciplinary tools to develop particular methods for specifi c situations, and to deal with the issues that arise from the ethical mandate to involve descendant voices in these projects – especially the multiple ways that people understand the objects and places that are under archaeological examination. My approaches have ranged from critical theory, to American pragmatism, to (more recently) Critical Race Theory and ideas drawn from the community organising/activist literature. In this chapter I discuss each approach, using examples from various projects to illustrate specifi c methods and strategies, some of which are drawn from my training in the parent discipline within which most American archaeology operates – anthropology. Throughout, I will attempt to evaluate each approach through a lens suggested by pragmatist philosopher William James a century ago: that theories provide instruments, not answers, and that our work must be evaluated less as a solution than as a programme for more work.
