The Department of Anthropology Colloquium Series

Thursday March 11^th 2010
3:00 pm in Crawford Hall 115
Reception to Follow

Windy McElroy, Senior Archaeologist
Garcia and Associates
presents,

Merging Archaeology with the Local Community: The Moloka'i Archaeological Training Program and Wailau Research Project, Moloka'i Island, Hawai'i

Involving the local community in archaeological research should be an important part of all archaeological work. Community support, or the lack thereof, can make or break a project, but public involvement benefits both the archaeologist and the community. No one knows the intricacies of the landscape better than someone who lives there, so local residents can play a major role in identifying cultural resources, saving the archaeologist time and money. Community involvement can also introduce local people to the field of archaeology and demonstrate that archaeology is a viable career option. The public often has misconceptions about what archaeology really entails, and utilizing local volunteers exposes them to what our field is really about, helping to bridge the gap between archaeologists and concerned community groups. In this presentation I’ll give you an example of how I was able to involve the Moloka‘i community in my dissertation research in Wailau Valley and a training program in Kamalō.

Dr. McElroy received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2007, where she specialized in Hawaiian archaeology. She is currently a Senior Archaeologist at Garcia & Associates, a cultural resource management firm in Kailua. She is also owner and CEO of Keala Pono Archaeological Consulting, LLC. Dr. McElroy's research in Hawaiian archaeology has been supported by a Ford Foundation Fellowship, as well as grants from the National Science Foundation, and the Hawai῾i Council for the Humanities. For the past 5 years, Dr. McElroy has developed a community-based archaeological research program in the remote valley of Wailau, on Moloka῾i Island. Besides her work in the Hawaiian Islands, Dr. McElroy has practiced archaeology in French Polynesia, Fiji, and Arizona. She is a prolific scholar with more than 70 publications authored, including journal articles, book chapters, technical reports, conference papers, and community outreach presentations.

Cosponsored with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies

For further information, please contact Anthropology at anthprog@hawaii.edu.

page last updated March 14, 2010