Jack Rossen

On sabbatical 2005-2006 academic year.

I am an archaeologist who has worked and taught throughout South America and the U.S. Now I am working primarily near Cayuga Lake on 17th and 18th century Contact Period and historic sites. My specializations include archaeobotany, the study of archaeological plant remains, and lithic technology, the study of stone tools. I have the opportunity to see the interface between generalists, who run site excavations and coordinate the results of a large research team, and the specialist who becomes attached to various projects, because I do both. My philosophy is that archaeology should be intensely interdisciplinary. Only our imagination limits the scientific possibilities and special studies that may be done in archaeology.

I teach the department’s introduction to archaeology class, called World Prehistory. My mid-level area classes are North American Prehistory, The Iroquois (Haudenosaunee), Peoples of the Northeast, and Ethnobotany. I think my favorite classes are my upper level seminars, which include Hunter-Gatherers, Origins of Agriculture, and Ethnoarchaeology. I teach an archaeological field school every other summer that takes place north of Ithaca in the Aurora-Union Springs area (the next one is the summer of 2007) but we are always looking for help in the archaeology lab washing, sorting and analyzing artifacts – get in touch if you’re interested in helping out. Right now students are doing independent studies on Cayuga ceramics and plant remains, but even dropping by for an hour to wash artifacts is a help. I’ll also be participating in the summer 2006 travel course, The Anthropological Experience in Alaska and the December to January 2007 travel course in Hawaii. See you there?

I am particularly concerned that archaeology continues to have relevance in the present-day world. So my local research highlights the complex landscape of the heart of Cayuga territory, especially the area on the east shore of Cayuga Lake where several principle Cayuga villages stood in the 18th century: Cayuga Castle (Gouiguen), Scipioville, Chonodote (Peachtown), and Upper Cayuga. These were among the 43 Native towns and villages of the Finger Lakes area that were burned by the U.S. Continental Army during the Sullivan Campaign of 1779. This archaeology is part of a “new vision” for the discipline, one that is a positive force for Native people, studies issues that Native people are interested in, is oriented to site protection, and respects sacred areas and burial grounds.

We have recently begun a Native American Studies minor that I co-cordinate with Brooke Olson. We strive for a multidimensional program that includes not just an array of courses in eight departments across campus, but also special events, field trips, internship opportunities, and student recruitment. The field school, along with the Alaska and Hawaii courses, are designed to show the common progress and problems of Native peoples of all regions: they are all revitalizing their culture, repatriating important materials from museums and storehouses, and trying to recover land.

My role in SHARE (Strengthening Haudenosaunee American Relations through Education) is as member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer. SHARE is a community organization of Native and non-Native people who are building bridges between different people of all sorts, and between people and the land. SHARE operates a 70 acre organic farm in Union Springs (40 mintues north of campus) as an educational center on Native issues and history, and as a place for people to reconnect with the land. There are lots of student opportunities to help out with the planting and chores and hundreds of IC students have volunteered. My role in SHARE is to develop our knowledge of the local history, so we can protect key sites, combat historical revision, and all understand why the Cayuga people feel so strongly about returning to their homeland. We hope the farm will soon be turned over to the Haudenosunee Confederacy on behalf of the traditional Cayugas.

Courses:

• World Prehistory
• North American Prehistory
• The Iroquois
• Native Peoples of the Northeast
• People, Plants, and Culture: Ethnobotany & Archaeobotany
• Hunter-Gatherers
• Origins of Agriculture
• Ethnoarchaeology
• Archaeological Field School in the Cayuga Homeland
• The Anthropological Experience in Hawai’i
• The Anthropological Experience in Alaska

Committees:

• Co-Coordinator, Native American Studies Program
• Steering Committee, Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity
• Environmental Sciences Program Committee

Community Organization:

Board of Directors and Treasurer, SHARE (Strengthening Haudenosaunee American Relations through Education)