New List of Indigenous American Anthropologists

Editors’ note: today’s post is courtesy of Sharlotte Neely, Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Northern Kentucky University. Our thanks to Dr. Neely for making this resource available. Dr. Neely has also contributed a general list of anthropologists’ graves; more information on that list can be found in this post.

I have organized a list of more than 70 deceased anthropologists who were American Indians. Dozens of tribes and nations are represented from every culture area in North America. Included are Ph.D. anthropologists (like Alfonso Ortiz), proto-anthropologists (like Black Hawk), amateur anthropologists (like Bodaga Pino), assistants to anthropologists (like Kopeli), key informants (like Will West Long), and unintentional anthropologists (like Ishi). The list can be viewed at Find a Grave. I would much appreciate being contacted at sharlottedonnelly@gmail.com about additional people I should add to the list or corrections I should make, including editing individual entries and adding photos.

Two of the most interesting items I have learned in creating the list are, first, the number of non-Indian anthropologists who credited Indians who worked with them, often as co-authors, rather than anonymous informants, and, second, how many Indians with graduate degrees in anthropology worked professionally in the field of anthropology from the beginning of the discipline in the United States and Canada.