Program Trains Indian Archaeologists

A pilot program at Idaho State University is aimed at training Indian students to help in the collection of important Indian cultural data.

Various public and private organizations are providing the funding and 13 Indian students were trained at Idaho State’s summer archaeology field schools.

An adviser to the program views it as a trade-off - Indians reveal traditions, ceremonies and sacred sites to ISU anthropologists who in turn gather factual information from Indians well-educated in tribal culture.

“It’s time for the white community to understand our ways,” said Hobbie Hevewah, program adviser.

“After completing the field school, students will be qualified to work as entry level field crew members,” said John Furniss, manager of the program.

From students completing the field school, six positions will be filled in Pocatello. The field school met for six weeks during the summer, with students rotating between labs at Idaho State and surveys conducted at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and the City of Rocks south of Burley.

Polly Hevewah, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, said she enrolled because it was a way for her to help preserve cultural values.

During lab sessions, Ernest S. “Skip” Lohse, ISU associate professor of anthropology, teaches students to analyze soil samples and define stone debris and tools, including projectile points and scrapers.