PERSPECTIVE
erosion are increasingly encroaching upon ancestral sites, THPOs are becom- ing more and more essential. The process for establishing a THPO
This Far and No Farther
BY LANCE FOSTER I
didn’t plan on being an archaeologist. After a few false starts in college in
the 1980s, I ended up pursing a bache- lor’s degree in Anthropology and Native American Studies from the University of Montana so I could write papers on my tribe. Then I became an archaeological field hand, or “shovel bum,” for a few years; my degree didn’t open other doors. Next I got a job working as an archaeo- logical field technician for the U.S. Forest Service. After obtaining Master degrees in Anthropology and Landscape Archi- tecture from Iowa State University and spending decades in the historic pres- ervation field, I ended up accepting the position of Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, or THPO, for my tribe, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, in 2013. As a THPO, I do a variety of jobs for
my tribe, mostly compliance reviews of archaeological projects and occasionally monitoring construction excavations on our ancestral lands. Balancing the need to preserve our ancestral places and working within federal and state laws along with the expectations of tribal leaders and members is always chal- lenging. However, as development and
8 WINTER 2022 AMERICAN INDIAN
grew out of the National Historic Pres- ervation Act (NHPA), which was passed in 1966. Communities across the United States were concerned about losing their historic buildings and sites with- out notice, especially in the wake of the construction boom following World War II. NHPA established a set of legal provisions to help understand, man- age and protect historic places across the United States, from archaeologi- cal sites to historic buildings and dis- tricts. This gave communities a chance to voice any concerns about potential projects, which are balanced against the goals of the project. The process, not the outcome, is legally mandated. Section 106 of the NHPA mandates compliance reviews for historic signif- icance of any projects on federal lands, using federal funds or requiring federal permits. To do these reviews and man- age the process, NHPA established State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs) in each state through annual grants admin- istered under the National Park Service, which also has oversight over the SHPOs. Compliance reviews for projects include all federal lands, permits and funding, so for many years, this gave SHPOs power over projects on Native ancestral sites. Inherent conflicts between states and
As the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Lance Foster sometimes monitors archaeological excavations on his tribe's ancestral lands.
tribal sovereignty naturally resulted. SHPOs often had little knowledge or understanding of the laws of native nations or traditions of communities. So in 1996, the first 12 Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, the equivalent of a SHPO, were established with the same duties but with jurisdiction spe- cifically over certain federal and tribal lands within a reservation’s boundaries. The legal jurisdiction of each tribe was limited to these lands within its reser- vation boundaries. In addition, compliance reviews for
any projects using federal funds pro- posed on ancestral lands require consul- tation with tribes with ties to ancestral and historic connections to these lands to see if there are any concerns with projects that could impact those ances- tral sites. Any state, city, communi- ties and even companies or individuals
COURTESY OF LANCE FOSTER
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