Conan

Wanted to share my opinions about the Moundville video that Dr. Ed Barnhart recently released: youtu.be/4CPQNBfEihM?is=fOj7… Overall, it was a good video. I appreciate the effort Dr. Barnhart puts in to showing the complexity of Indigenous people in the southeast. He shows this with how he discusses Moundville, while also giving a general description of the site. I do update a few points: 1) I know that Dr. Barnhart calls them pyramids to show the achievements of Indigenous people, but when looking at the monuments and using the languages that were spoken by the people of Moundville - pyramid isn't what they were described as. The English translation of "nanih waiya" (Chatha - Muskogean language) means "sloped hill/mound". So, while acknowledging the achievements, calling them pyramids is actually more off than calling them mounds. 2) Similarly, "miko" translates to chief, King, President, Governor, etc., the distinction isn't there in the language. Most of the tribal leaders today are still called "Chief". So, it's not that the title is lesser - to the Indigenous people it was the same. 3) Peebles work is super old, primarily the 60s-70s. For reference; my MA advisor (who has been retired for 6 years) was a PhD student when Peebles was at Michigan. It would have been nice to hear about some of the more recent work being done there. Overall, I think it's good to have more people talking about the amazing archaeology being done and the achievements of Indigenous people in the southeast. If Dr. Barnhart doesn't, I would love for him to reach out to southeastern archaeologists and Native American communities because I think some of the older info that is being shared can be updated to reflect our current understanding. Glad he is covering sites in the southeast.