The Real World the Dilemmas of Tradition

We anthropologists often feel like interlopers in the world of public policy. Too often we discover that the seats at the table have already been taken by economists, lawyers, and political scientists. Yet there are certain areas where for better or worse anthropologists are acknowledged as the policy "experts." One of these rare professional quasi-monopolies is termed (in America's bureaucratic fed-speak) "cultural resource management," a line of work that employs significant numbers of both archaeologists and ethnographers. Broadly, cultural resource management involves the protection of archeological sites on federal lands (such as timber lands controlled by the Forest Service, or grazing lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management) or on projects requiring federal funding or permitting (such as dams or highways). But cultural resource management also involves the protection of places of "traditional cultural value." Primarily these are sites with traditional significance for American Indian communities.