Join us for a lecture on Wednesday, February 25th at 4pm featuring Jeffrey Bendremer, Ph.D, RPA on archaeology and tribal historic preservation. Indigenous communities and archaeologists have often been at odds regarding how best to preserve, protect, investigate and venerate tribal heritage. Between amateur collectors, museums and academic archaeologists, Tribal Nations have often felt that their reverence for their own histories had been subordinated to outsiders who had divergent interests, priorities, ethics and goals. The establishment of Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, a provision of Section 101(d)(2) of the National Historic Preservation Act, became open to federally recognized Indian Tribes since 1996. As a result, tribal governments finally had legally-based regulatory procedures for historic preservation and a statutory basis for asserting culturally appropriate approaches to the treatment of their heritage.
Jeffrey Bendremer, Ph.D, RPA received his doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Connecticut and is currently the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
Jeff was founder and director of Salish Kootenai College’s Tribal Historic Preservation Program, the only 4-year degree in THP in America, and held professorships at Mercy College, Indiana University, College of New Rochelle, Eastern Connecticut State University and Connecticut College, teaching courses in Native American studies, anthropology, sociology, and history.
Dr. Bendremer has also worked in cultural resource management and public archaeology, including 10 years as Manager of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut’s historic preservation program and NAGPRA Coordinator for the Connecticut Museum of Natural History and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. He has presented and published numerous academic papers on Indigenous history and culture in the northeast. He advocates for better ethics in archaeology, improved partnerships with Indian tribes and cutting-edge methods in historic preservation.
Dorset is located on the ancestral homelands of the Mohican Nation and Stockbridge-Munsee Community.