The continental interior of the United States—home to many Native American communities—is a region rich in fossils. Since the nineteenth century, fossils found on Native lands have been removed and placed in museums and universities without the consent of, or proper collaboration with Native Tribes. Lawrence Bradley will discuss the history of fossil dispossession from Sioux lands and the legal frameworks—or lack of—that allowed it to occur. He will also examine the role that fossils taken from these lands have played in establishing vertebrate paleontology as a scientific discipline in the United States. Finally, he offers an approach to solving past and present disputes between Tribes and paleontologists.
Lawrence Bradley, Adjunct Professor, Department of Geography/Geology, University of Nebraska-Omaha
Free hybrid lecture. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.
Dr. Lawrence Bradley holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has taught Environmental Geology at the collegiate level for two decades. He has been raised by Oglala Lakota since he was two years old and has Native American ancestry from the tribes of New Mexico Territory. Dr. Bradley is currently writing a revision to his book, Dinosaurs and Indians: Paleontology Resource Dispossession From Sioux Lands. His research on fossil dispossession from Lakota tribes was recently featured on the nationally televised and widely acclaimed PBS special, “Prehistoric Road Trip” Part III. His most recent coauthored paper (2023) deals with the history and contemporary policies that govern paleontological research on Native American lands of the United States. Dr. Bradley is also an elected official in Omaha for a natural resources board that deals with flood control, creation of recreational opportunities, preservation of wetlands and natural resources, and provision of clean drinking water to rural communities. He serves on the Native American Advisory Council for the mayor of Omaha, the largest metropolitan city in Nebraska. Dr. Bradley was also recently appointed to the newly formed Diversity Committee of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. He is a veteran of the United States Army.
Presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
Image credit: Bill Sitzman | Motion Photography
LOCATION:Zoom or Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20230330T220000Z DTEND:20230330T230000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR