Biography
Sonya Atalay is a public anthropologist and archaeologist who studies Indigenous science protocols and practices and Indigenous research methodologies carried out with and for Indigenous communities. Dr. Atalay is the Director of the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS), a newly established National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center. She has experience in and written about the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and served two terms on the National NAGPRA Review Committee, first appointed by the Bush administration and then for a second term by the Obama administration. Dr. Atalay is involved in producing a series of research-based comics in partnership with Native nations about repatriation of Native American ancestral remains, return of sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony under NAGPRA law. She is the author of several books related to community-based research and Indigenous knowledges and science, including Community-Based Archaeology: Research with, by and for Indigenous and Local Communities and “The Community-Based PhD: Complexities and Triumphs of Conducting CBPR” providing guidance for graduate students in conducting ethical research with Indigenous communities. Dr. Atalay is currently completing a book called, “Braiding Knowledges: How Indigenous Knowledge is Challenging and Changing Institutions”. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Mellon New Directions program, and she’s worked on major international research collaborations such as the Intellectual Property in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project funded by Social Science and Humanities Research Council. At MIT, she teaches classes on Indigenous research practices and community-based archaeology.
Research
I’m trained as an anthropological archaeologist and have carried out fieldwork at the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey and conducted numerous research projects in partnership with rural Turkish and Native American communities to better understand community-based protection and management of cultural sites. Beginning with my first book, Community-Based Archaeology: Research with, by, and for Indigenous and Local Communities (2012, California), the overarching focus of my work in Anthropology and Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) is to understand the ethics and practice of community-based research in partnership with Indigenous Peoples. This is central to my work because being in right relations with communities as we conduct research is essential and the central foundation of ethical research practice.
There’s been an exciting growth of research partnerships with Indigenous communities, yet the methods, theories, ethics, and on-the-ground practices still lag behind the collaborative ideals. This is particularly clear in archaeology and in many related STEM fields, including earth, environmental, and geosciences which increasingly recognize the value of Indigenous knowledge and seek to utilize traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to understand rapid climatic changes and mitigation and adaptation strategies. My research seeks to understand how to effectively and ethically bring Indigenous ways of knowing (epistemologies), being (ontologies), and doing (axiologies) together with mainstream research practices while ensuring those knowledges aren’t extracted, exploited, commodified, or otherwise unintentionally harmed. My recent publications address key challenges in what I refer to as “braiding” Indigenous and mainstream approaches to science and research methodologies. I explore braiding practices in my current book project, “Braiding Knowledges: How Indigenous Knowledge is Challenging and Changing Institutions”. I examine how braiding Indigenous and mainstream western knowledge frameworks and scientific practices is distinctly and necessarily different from blending or integrating. We learn from repatriation that when braided, Indigenous and Western Science practice and content result in improved repatriation policies and better protection for and understandings of heritage places; provides fresh perspectives on data sovereignty and protection of Indigenous knowledge held in archival documents, songs, photographs and other tangible and intangible heritage; and strengthens scientific research practices. I argue and demonstrate throughout my work that a braiding approach is effective because it allows for plural coexistence of multiple knowledges where strands of each are brought together to solve challenges toward a common goal.
Selected Publications
| 2024 | Repatriation as Pedagogy. Co-authored with Jane Anderson. Current Anthropology 63(5). |
| 2022 | The Community-Based PhD (co-edited with Alexandra McCleary). University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ. |
| 2020 | Archaeologies of the Heart. (co-edited with Kisha Supernant, Jane Baxter, and Natasha Lyons). Springer Press, New York. |
| 2020 | Indigenous Knowledge in Dangerous Times: Research Partnerships, Knowledge Mobilization, and Public Engagement. Public Archaeology 18. |
| 2022 | Introduction. Co-authored with Alexandra McCleary. In The Community-Based PhD, edited by Sonya Atalay and Alexandra McCleary. p. 5-12. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. |
| 2022 | Complexities, Triumphs, Missteps, and Joys of Conducting Community-based PhD Research: What we Learn from Graduate Student Experiences. In The Community-Based PhD, edited by Sonya Atalay and Alexandra McCleary. Ch. 30, p. 453--470. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. |
| 2020 | Archaeology led by Strawberries. In Archaeologies of the Heart, edited by Kisha Supernant, Jane Baxter, Natasha Lyons, and Sonya Atalay, Chapter 16, p.253-269. Springer Press, New York, NY. |
| 2019 | Can Archaeology Help Decolonize the Way Institutions Think? How Community-Based Research is Transforming the Archaeology Training Toolbox and How that Toolbox Can Help Transform Institutions. Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress 15(3):514-535. |
| 2019 | Ethno/Graphic Storytelling: Communicating Research and Exploring Pedagogical Approaches through Graphic Narratives, Drawings, and Zines. American Anthropologist 121(3): 769-772 by Sonya Atalay, Letizia Bonanno, Sally Campbell Galman, Sarah Jacqz, Ryan Rybka, Jen Shannon, Cary Speck, John Swogger, Erica Wolencheck. |
| 2019 | Completing the Journey: A Graphic Narrative about NAGPRA and Repatriation. Multimodal Anthropologies Aug 19, 2019. http://www.americananthropologist.org/2019/08/19/ethno-graphic-storytelling/ |
| 2019 | Braiding Strands of Wellness: How Repatriation Contributes to Healing through Embodied Practice and Storywork. Public Historian 41(1): 78-89. |
| 2012 | Community-Based Archaeology: Research With, By and For Indigenous and Local Communities. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. |
Awards
| 2023 | Chancellor’s Medal Recipient, University of Massachusetts Amherst |
| 2022 | American Anthropological Association, Patty Jo Watson Distinguished Lecture Award |
| 2021 | Named first UMass Amherst ‘Provost Professor’ |
| 2021 | Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award, UMass Amherst Graduate School |
| 2020 | Chancellor’s Leadership Fellowship (partnered with Deputy Chancellor to develop UMass Office of Community-Based Research) |
| 2011 | Indiana State Senate Commendation acknowledging community-based research with Sullivan County American Indian Council to develop Interpretive Heritage Trail |
| 2010 | Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award |
News
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences welcomes nine new faculty
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences | MIT News
August 1, 2024
Launch of the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science
https://www.umass.edu/news/article/umass-amherst-partnering-indigenous-communities-launch-30m-nsf-center-braiding
Indigenous Science to be Focus at Research Center on Climate Change
https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/09/08/indigenous-science-climate-change-research-umass
NSF announces $120 million in funding to create 4 new Science and Technology Centers
https://new.nsf.gov/news/120-million-funding-create-4-new-science-tech-centers
Links
Can Indigenous knowledge and Western science work together? New center bets yes NSF commits $30 million for “two-eyed seeing” to combat climate change, food insecurity, and the loss of traditional culture
https://www.science.org/content/article/can-indigenous-knowledge-and-western-science-work-together-new-center-bets-yes
Nature: NSF invests millions to unite Indigenous knowledge with Western science
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02839-4