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I am gradually updating this website; the menu to the left indicates something of the shape of things to come, and links will become active as I have the new pages ready.

I am an historical anthropologist, archaeologist, and historian of the discipline. Much of my research has long focused on Native North America and the historical relations between Native and European cultures, past and present. Research topics have included Native American perceptions of Europeans in contact situations, perspectives on warfare and violence, and the maintenance of ethnic identity. This work has included consulting with tribes on questions of land claims, recognition, and repatriation, as well as extensive archaeological and archival research. I have focused on two areas, Algonquian groups and the Pacific Northwest, and particularly on the Powhatan Indians of Virginia.

In the mid-1990s I also began to study the Spanish Caribbean, particularly U.S. involvement there and its relationships to U.S. Indian policy and its practice. My primary focus here has been on Puerto Rico, with a secondary focus on Cuba. I also study tourism and travel in Puerto Rico and Cuba, nineteenth century to the present, and representations (in art, photography, material culture, literature, advertising, etc.) and their relationships to identity issues in Puerto Rico and Cuba. Most recently I have been researching Diosa Costello, a forgotten Puerto Rican singer/dancer/actress, and her position in the history of Latino performers in the US.

In approach I emphasize methods and theories for interpreting material and visual culture and documentary evidence, including textual and semiotic approaches and quantitative methods, along with ways to integrate such research with other streams of evidence. I have produced photographic and poster exhibits, websites and videos as well as publications, and have taught a wide range of courses in all of the traditional subfields of the discipline.

My research on the history of anthropology has emphasized the development of the Americanist tradition, with focuses including the work of Frank Speck and his students, and the University of Chicago, Cornell University and University of Wisconsin departments. My interest in other disciplinary traditions of the world is reflected in the philosophy and contents of Histories of Anthropology Annual, which I co-founded and co-edit with Regna Darnell.

I am currently a Senior Lecturer and Curator of the Anthropology Collections at Cornell University.