WCHS Speaker Series: Dr. Cameron Gokee and Dr. Alice Wright
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Join us for our next Speaker Series installment, Wednesday, June 17 at 5:30pm in the Watauga County Public Library community room. We are welcoming Dr. Cameron Gokee and Dr. Alice Wright to discuss their work with the Junaluska Archaeology Project.
First settled in the mid-1800s, Boone’s historically Black Junaluska Community has been documenting its oral and written histories since 2011 through the Junaluska Heritage Association (JHA). In 2020, Gokee and Wright partnered with JHA to launch the Junaluska Community Archaeology Project and explore its material history. Here, they address not only recent findings, but also lessons learned related to community engagement, local politics, and student involvement. Specifically, they reflect on all the things “other than” traditional archaeology that this collaboration has involved, and how these efforts have contributed to a variety of community initiatives and enriched the experiences of diverse project participants.
Cameron Gokee and Alice Wright are Associate Professors in the Department of Anthropology at Appalachian State University. Together, they have decades of research and teaching experience in West Africa and the American Southeast, where their work broadly explores the relationships between past peoples and their social and environmental landscapes. Since 2020, they have partnered with the Junaluska Heritage Association to apply archaeological methods to the study of Junaluska's history through survey and excavation within the neighborhood and documentation of nearby community cemeteries.
First settled in the mid-1800s, Boone’s historically Black Junaluska Community has been documenting its oral and written histories since 2011 through the Junaluska Heritage Association (JHA). In 2020, Gokee and Wright partnered with JHA to launch the Junaluska Community Archaeology Project and explore its material history. Here, they address not only recent findings, but also lessons learned related to community engagement, local politics, and student involvement. Specifically, they reflect on all the things “other than” traditional archaeology that this collaboration has involved, and how these efforts have contributed to a variety of community initiatives and enriched the experiences of diverse project participants.
Cameron Gokee and Alice Wright are Associate Professors in the Department of Anthropology at Appalachian State University. Together, they have decades of research and teaching experience in West Africa and the American Southeast, where their work broadly explores the relationships between past peoples and their social and environmental landscapes. Since 2020, they have partnered with the Junaluska Heritage Association to apply archaeological methods to the study of Junaluska's history through survey and excavation within the neighborhood and documentation of nearby community cemeteries.
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Where is it happening?
Watauga County Public Library, 140 Queen St, Boone, NC 28607, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherWatauga County Historical Society
