Doctoral Candidate in Anthropology
About
I am a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at the University of Michigan. I apply a wide range of material analyses to understand the daily decisions people make in contexts of political transformation. I am particularly interested in the entanglements of Indigenous sovereignty and settler colonialism in the past and present, and work with a multi-vocal praxis that centers Indigenous scholarship and voices in my research. While I've conducted research in the Meditteranean, Belize, and various US states, my regional expertise lies in the Southeast US and the wetlands of coastal South Carolina.
My dissertation focuses on the small-scale processes of Native nation-building, specifically among the Yamasee, a Native American community who built a powerful nation in South Carolina at the turn of the 18th century. I take a households-based approach that centers Yamasee women in broader networks of social and political integration. To do so, I join extant and new archaeological, environmental, and archival data from 6 Yamasee towns.
Most of my research has focused on the Yamasee capital town of Pocotaligo, where I have conducted fieldwork with the support of national granting agencies and over 30 student volunteers. I and specialists are currently conducting analyses on ceramics and plant and animal remains to understand the cultural milieu of Yamasee towns and the kin ties that connected them.
I am always eager to work with volunteers of all ages and collaborate with scholars and communities interested in this work! Please feel free to email me.
