Selected as a 2022 Choice Outstanding Academic Title, this title bravely delves into the Paleolithic archaeology of the Americas from an Indigenous perspective, providing critical discussion of the Euro-centric history of American archaeology in an attempt to “unpack colonial garbage.” Steeves (Cree-Metis) uses evidence from the archaeological record, genealogy, oral history, linguistics, Paleoenvironmental studies, and mammalian migration patterns, and an examination of Pleistocene sites of North and South America to make a case for a much earlier peopling of the Americas. She describes potential migration routes, environmental changes, and timing, correlating them with oral histories and material culture to provide alternative scenarios to the Clovis-first model and urge researchers and readers to consider Indigenous ways of knowing.
Steeves’ “ceremony of research” seeks to cleanse minds and language of colonial narratives. She awakens us to the use of terms such as “Paleoindian” and “Clovis People” that reduce Indigenous peoples to a monoculture, erasing Indigenous diversity. She describes how pre-Clovis sites have long suffered from rejection, contrary to oral history and material culture evidence. “Erasure of the deep past denies Indigenous people a place in world history that accords them full humanity … separating [their] link to their ancient homelands, heritage, and identity,” she writes.
This essential book fills an important gap left by Western academic educators who generally continue to ignore Indigenous knowledge, culture, and language. It is well-researched, including a detailed map and a useful and extensive appendix regarding select Pleistocene sites of the Western Hemisphere, information that can also be found on her online database of hundreds of North and South American sites dating from 250,000 to 12,000 years ago at tipdba.ca.
