Ethnographic Overview and Assessment of Pinnacles National Park
Project ID: P20AC00494
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Portland State University
Fiscal Year: 2020
Initial Funding: $169,160
Total Funding: $169,160
Project Type: Technical Assistance
Project Disciplines: Cultural
National Park: Pinnacles National Park
Principal Investigator: Deur, Doug
Agreement Technical Representative: Ryan, Amelia
Abstract: This project is a collaborative effort by the NPS and PSU to develop an Ethnographic Overview and Assessment of PINN. The Ethnographic Overview and Assessment is a foundational baseline research report useful for reviewing and analyzing accessible archival and documentary data addressing resources that are of cultural significance within the park, and to groups who traditionally see such cultural and natural features as significant to their ethnic heritage and cultural identity. There are multiple American Indian groups that define Pinnacles and its resources as traditionally significant to their heritage. Relationships between American Indian communities and the Pinnacles in pre-contact and early historic times have never been systematically documented.
This project will facilitate greater understanding of the cultural affiliation of modern descendants of these peoples to the park through survey of historical and ethnographic documentation. It will also provide knowledge about traditional land use and resource management practices to support research already initiated by the park and tribal cooperators on the traditional ecological knowledge of American Indian cultures of this region.
Investigators from PSU and NPS staff will collaborate to research and write a comprehensive ethnographic study, suitable for publication. The study will identify American Indian groups associated, or potentially associated, with PINN, and document cultural and/or natural resources that are traditionally defined as significant to the ethnic heritage of these associated groups. This study will build upon an earlier pilot project carried out through a previous CESU Agreement (P15AC01579) with PSU. That project resulted in the following report: Ettner, C. and D. Deur. 2016. Native American Associations with Pinnacles National Park: An Overview and Workplan. The present study will follow the recommendations for future research detailed in that pilot study, and comprise the following five components or tasks:
1. Completion of a needs assessment for ethnographic research.
2. Identification, acquisition, and translation—as necessary—of Spanish and Mexican era mission documents.
3. Interviews with park-associated tribal members.
4. Production of a comprehensive ethnographic database for the Pinnacles region.
5. Production of a book-length narrative report on American Indian history of the Pinnacles region.