Dr. Jeremy Elliot and Dr. Eric Schroeder took a handful of students to a paint rock site in late March. This is a collaborative excavation that Elliot has been working on for a few years with Schroeder, who is an archaeologist.

“We wanted to do something that was collaborative with Indigenous People,” said Elliot, associate professor of English. “Academics can bring a lot of tools to a project like that, but if you want to ask bigger questions about how things have meaning and spaces exist, it’s important to look at all of the communities that have been involved with those places.”

For a long time, Elliot and Schroeder were working with just elders, asking for explanations, and it started with rock art. The paintings date back to a couple of thousands of years ago, and Elliot wanted to read those as stories. He learned that the “stories” were meant to be read as a group, so he would get more active versions of the stories if they got the elders to bring their grandchildren. Once they did that, they got much richer readings.

Another important topic Elliot discussed with the elders has to do with the field of archaeology and the animosity between Indigenous peoples and archeology. At what point is it considered “grave robbing?”

“Indigenous communities have not historically been consulted in conversations about archeology,” said Elliot. “There’s not a problem with studying old things. The problem is being abusive and disrespectful as you do it. The big question we’re asking is ‘what is the Indigenous way of studying old stuff?’”

Something else they wanted to do was to expose the grandchildren to archeology, so they could mix cultural and academic knowledge. They want the field to get healthier and not be another field of colonialism.

Students also got involved in the site doing different tasks depending on what they were experienced in. Ashlee Reed, a senior communication major from Cybolo, was one of them.

“I first got involved with the paint rock dig because I had Dr. Elliot for Literary Theory and Criticism, and I went on the dig last year because he invited me,” Reed said. “This year, I went because I wanted to go again and because I was working on a documentary about Native American boarding school survivors, specifically from the Fort Sill Indian Boarding School in Lawton, Oklahoma because all of the individuals were a part of Comanche Nation, and Comanche Nation is also part of the dig.”

The experience was overwhelmingly positive because she got to share the historical sight with people who had never seen it before, and she got to learn more about it. Every time she goes, she learns something new.

There is already funding for ’25, ’26, and ’27.

For people wanting to get into the field of archeology and excavation, there is training available. Contra Valley Archeological Society has volunteer opportunities that they can do and other local groups. There are also schools and archeological sites that people can go on and excavate.

“Anyone who’s interested in learning more about paint rock can definitely ask Dr. Elliot because he’s a wealth of knowledge when it comes to that site,” said Reed.