A Struggle for Heritage: Archaeology and Civil Rights in a Long Island Community by Christopher N. Matthews (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Struggle for Heritage: Archaeology and Civil Rights in a Long Island Community by Christopher N. Matthews Katherine Hayes (bio) A Struggle for Heritage: Archaeology and Civil Rights in a Long Island Community by Christopher N. Matthews University Press of Florida, 2020 A STRUGGLE FOR HERITAGE recounts a community-academic partnership grounded in building the case for preservation of a remarkable historic presence for the Native and African American community in Setauket (Long Island, New York). Matthews frames the archaeological work in the project as "archaeology as political action," identifying the preservation legislative system as state-sanctioned recognition and power. Although the community carries a strong sense of their history, elder members are concerned with the literal loss of grounds as younger generations choose not to remain in Setauket. Thus the recognition in preservation is aimed both inward (community persistence) and outward (state power). The prevalent white settler narrative that Matthews refers to as the "authorized heritage discourse" conflicts with the community-preserved history (37). Settler history focuses on the Revolutionary War, and Matthews describes a wide variety of its manifestations: written into local histories, promoted by historical organizations, celebrated in representational artwork, and embedded in landscapes, an ever-familiar story of white settlers' successful struggles for survival while others quietly disappear. In contradistinction to the assertions of disappearance, the next chapter provides a "Counter-map of Setauket" where the same landscape is marked by and mapped with places that Native and African American community members remember as their own deep history. Matthews frames the major inquiry of the book in terms of a shift from "creole synthesis"—in the early New York postemancipation years of greater racial integration—to "racial modernity," a midcentury rising tide of anti-Black racism and antiabolitionist sentiment that transitioned into Jim Crow segregation (105). He uses an eclectic mix of evidence, including an extended analysis of genre paintings by William Sidney Mount, historical newspaper writing, and censuses. Censuses provide neighborhood demographics and demonstrate an initial period of relatively greater integration followed by pronounced racial segregation that concentrated the Native and African American community into one or two areas of Setauket. Census [End Page 200] data guided the selection of the two sites for archaeological excavation and interpretation by the community collaborative partnership. Both were home sites associated with known families and individuals, well contextualized through archival records, photos, oral histories, and personal memories. The goal was to compare the experiences of the historical community over time in the context of changing structures of racism. The following two chapters detail the findings of the excavations and material analyses. The two sites reveal distinct differences, particularly in access to resources and environmental conditions. The nineteenth-century site was home to a multigenerational family who sustained themselves on an independent farm while also drawing on the abundant wild plants and fauna around them. The early twentieth-century site was home to a family pressed into low-wage labor and dependent upon the market for staple foods and materials. Generations beyond emancipation, we see the material evidence of declining opportunities: a strong argument against the tone of a progressive pluralistic society often championed by heritage organizations. While the book impressively outlines a rich history, Matthews closes with a rather pessimistic note about the value of political action via preservation, stating that despite a successful nomination of a historic district to the National Register of Historic Places, little change in the social and racial context of Setauket has occurred. While sympathizing greatly with the community members, this comes as little surprise; and the author's conclusion highlights my concern with the book. Despite the emphasis on the community's diversity and the refusal to essentialize its members, the study and interpretation is grounded in critical Black studies and an analysis of structural racism. What of settler colonialism? Where is the discussion of Indigenous sovereignty and the efforts of the Setalcott Nation in seeking federal recognition? Referencing Native scholars such as Audra Simpson or Glen Coulthard could reframe the recourse to the politics of preservation, showing that preservation practice is fundamentally shaped by settler and white supremacist values and epistemologies. Why would a community, steeped in its own...