Exploration of Indigenous, Native and Tribal Place Name Preservation in the United States
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Young, J.M.
1LIZARDTECH Email: jyoung@lizardtech.com
Abstract
Examples of indigenous, native and tribal place name preservation practices in the United States will be compared and contrasted. At least five regions of the United States will be examined including northeastern Pennsylvania, southern Indiana, south central US, northern New Mexico and Hawaii. In the case of northeastern Pennsylvania and southern Indiana, tribal communities were displaced as the American settlers expanded west. South central US became a reservation-based settlement region by Federal Government policy and treaties with multiple Native American tribes. The northern New Mexico Pueblos are quite different in that the tribal communities have been in place for hundreds of years; the most notable being the Taos Pueblo where Tiwa has been spoken on a daily basis for 1000 years and Tiwa continues to have a persistent influence on place name usage despite the presence of the colonial Spanish and the English speaking American settlers who followed. Hawaii may have historically benefited by its isolation early on in Native Hawaiian history, but rapid development over the last several decades has strained preservation initiatives. In response the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has developed an authoritative Kipuka database which contains approximately 10,000 historic sites. In all cases for the five regions listed above, a discussion of methods and practices employed for sacred site protection will be presented. Preliminary findings suggest there has been loss or degradation of sacred sites and place name changes over time and land transfers have contributed to site disruption and damage. The author will present findings on these special concerns related to ongoing efforts to preserve and protect indigenous, native and tribal sacred sites across the US.
Keywords
Place Name Preservation; Sacred Site Protection; Tribal Place Names