In a supermarket, at the counter…

“Tell me, sir,  are you the owner of one of the hotels here? Or a restaurant?”, asked the cashier as I was paying for my weekly groceries

“No, no, I am an archaeologist!”,  I said, with the usual proud tone I used when asked what do I do.

“Archaeologist?! What is that?!”

“Well, basically, it is the study of ancient cultures… In my case I’m studying the histories of the indigenous populations that lived here in Montecristi before the arrival of Columbus in 1492”.

The cashier seemed puzzled: “Noooo, you are mistaken, there were no Indians here before the Spanish arrived… and also, if you want to look for old stuff you have to go to El Castillo.” El Castillo being the name locals give to La Isabela, the first city build by Spaniards in the Americas.

“Actually, there were people living here before Columbus, and from what we have found more than expected! I am part of a research team that is doing research on the northern part of Dominican Republic and Haiti, and so far we have registered more than 200 sites related to the indigenous (not Indian!) populations only in the north of the Dominican Republic…”

The cashier looked at me as I had some kind of brain malfunction and he vigorously shakes his head.

I pick up my groceries, but before I leave I say: “On the 27th of this month (June 2015), we are doing an exhibition and some lectures to talk about the new discoveries we have made about Montecristi and Puerto Plata. It will not just be me, but also other archaeologists from other parts of the country… If you would like to join and know more about this, you are very welcome.”

Building a Cultural Bridge

This is only one of the many situations that showcase the unfamiliarity with the pre-Columbian past I encountered during fieldwork in the Montecristi province in the Dominican Republic. The exoticism and sometimes negation of a national past before European in the Montecristi province and the country in general is a clear example of the strong inheritance of colonialism. There is no doubt that the impact of colonisation over the Amerindian populations that inhabited today’s Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean in general, went beyond their physical obliteration. The image of a backward and uncivilised people that the Spaniards created is still strong in many areas as Montecristi. After the period of contact and conquest with its wars and slavery, the introduction of Africans as slaves and constant political and administrative changes the few remnants of Amerindian cultures were reduce to the point of biological extinction and even cultural obscurity, particularly for future generations.

The fact that Hispaniola was the first Spanish colony meant that their initial impressions, judgements and misinterpretations of the “New World” affected those populations harder and faster than in other areas of the Caribbean and the continent. Although there is no real agreement between researchers, the most conservative estimates proposed that on Hispaniola there was a population of roughly 500.000 around 1494 —the moment when conflicts between Spaniards and Amerindian began to have an effect on population size. Sadly, in the census done by Rodrigo de Albuquerque as part of the new Repartimientos in the island in 1514 the total amount of Amerindian was 26.334. Although there is still debate on  this total amounts, it seem reasonable to accept that the decrease of population on the island in the first 20 years was so representative that in the year 1520 the Spaniards brought indigenous people from the continent to replace the losses in the work force, and after it was replace with the Africans.

With the pass of years, decades, and centuries this original disregard for the local population continued to be present in the creole population, reaching the point where any link with Amerindians is hidden and rejected and any link with European ancestry is looked for and encouraged. This is where archaeologists like myself have a big responsibility. I believe, together with a large group of archaeologists including some of the NEXUS1492 researchers,  that archaeology is a social science, a cultural bridge, and a political tool. Within this perspective commitment and engagement with the living communities surrounded by the material evidence of the past that we are trying to understand is not optional. Actually, it is the essence of a responsible and engaged archaeology. We hold the opportunity not only to uncover the past from the dust of time, but also to break old paradigms that have reduced and silenced some groups relative to others. In the Montecristi Province most of people reject or ignore the presence of the indigenous populations and even Africans on the region, these indigenous landscapes have become invisible for most of the current population. The relation to any of these groups is underestimated and criticised or in the best case it is romanticised. Besides historical reasons, this is also due to a deficient in education on the history before Columbus (for a new improvement on this see the research of Arlene Alvarez and Eldris Con Aguilar), and the lack of relations to a previous pre-colonial period and its cultural, economic and political contexts.

Connecting to the General Public

As part of NEXUS 1492 objectives, during the 2015 fieldwork we began a series of lectures at local high schools in the province as well as one big exhibition on the municipality. The objective was to use our research as a tool and bridge to connect to the general public, and increase the recognition of the indigenous cultures in the province and the country. In addition, and most importantly, we wanted to collaborate with the acceptancy of their/our indigenous ascendancy. The result of these attempts was an enriching experience, both for the students/teachers and ourselves. The teachers were very happy that finally “someone is taking care of talking to the kids and present their research, instead of coming, taking whatever they want and leaving again”. Even more encouragingly, was how some students told us they were interested in archaeology and history as a carrier path. Even if only one of the almost 200 students (and teachers) present in the different lectures is interested in chasing their own history from an academic and formal path, these exhibitions and conferences have been useful, aside from the general increase in cultural awareness they have brought. I am confident that together, we can bring the indigenous past back into the eye, mind and heart of their descendants and the world. If we achieve this, all of us have won one over colonialism.

Acknowledgements

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the many people that had collaborated in this research and its fieldwork activities, to them my deepest gratitude. From Montecristi: Abel Gonzalez & family, Natividad Olivo & family, Richard Peña & family, Rami Ramirez, Elvio Gonzalez & family, Olga Lobetti, Eliecer Tati, Moreno, Carlos Manuel, Cheo, Jaime Torres & family, Ito, Feliberto Peña, Henri Hiraldo, Nandito, Wiki, Amado, Bate, Tony Rodriguez, Dominga Olivo, Oscar Olivo, Luciano Molina, Manuel de Jesus Medina, Juan de Dios Rosario, Atile Guzman, Vige, Jose Acosta, Ylsa Pascal Peña, Ramon y Camilo Vargas, Flor Angel. Dominican Republic agencies: The Museo del Hombre Dominicano, Ministerio de Cultura, Ministerio de Ambiente, and Gobernación de la Provincia de Montecristi. NEXUS and other researchers: Dr. Corinne Hofman, Dr. Jorge Ulloa Hung, Dr. Till Sonnemann, Dr. Menno Hoogland, Dr. Angus Mol, Dr. Hayley Mickleburgh, Dr. Andrzej Antczak, Dr. Andy Bevan (UCL), Pauline Kulstad, Pragmacio Marichal, Arlene Alvarez, Harold Olsen, Spencer Meredith (MHM). Students and collegues that have collaborate during fieldwork: Joseph Sony Jean, Catarina Falci, Emma de Mooij, Jacqueline Jansen, Dr. Termeh Shafie (Konstanz Univ.), Daniel Weidele (Konstanz Univ.), Mereke Van Garderen (Konstanz Univ.), Jan C. Athenstadt (Konstanz Univ.), Dr. Viviana Amati (Konstanz Univ.), Andrew Radford, Nancy Sep, Heidi Vink, Michael Steenbakker, Fred van Keulen, Ron Segaar, Philippa Jorissen, Iris Vocking, Alvaro Castilla, Rosanne Vroom, Finn van der Leden, Noortje Wauben, Jonathan Marinus, Soni Martínez and Sahirine Martínez. Finally, to the European Research Council, Leiden University and the NEXUS 1492 project.

by Eduardo Herrera Malatesta