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Honoring Lance Foster: A Legacy of Indigenous Advocacy and Archaeology - Ep 12
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In this heartfelt episode of the Great Plains Archaeology Podcast, host Carlton Shield Chief Gover pays tribute to the late Lance Foster, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) for the Ioway Tribe. Lance was a passionate advocate for Indigenous heritage, a dedicated scholar, and a guiding voice in the preservation of Ioway history and culture. His work bridged the worlds of archaeology, history, and Indigenous knowledge, ensuring that the stories of the past were honored and protected for future generations.
Join us as we reflect on Lance Foster’s contributions to the field, his leadership in cultural preservation, and the profound impact he had on those who worked alongside him. Through personal memories and reflections, this episode celebrates his enduring legacy and the vital role he played in Indigenous archaeology and historic preservation. Whether you knew Lance personally or are learning about him for the first time, this tribute recognizes a life dedicated to protecting and uplifting the histories of the Great Plains.
Links:
- This Far and No Farther by Lance Foster (2022)
- Lance Foster Obituary
- The Indians of Iowa by Lance Foster (2009)
- Lance Foster’s About ME
- The Archaeology of the North American Great Plains by Douglas B. Bamforth (2021)
- Archaeology on the Great Plains Edited by W. Raymond Wood (1998)
- Carlton's KU Anthropology Faculty Bio
Transcripts
- For rough transcripts of this episode, go to: https://www.archpodnet.com/great-plains-archaeology/12
Contact:
- Instagram: @pawnee_archaeologist
- Email: greatplainsarchpodcast@gmail.com
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Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Episode
00:00:01
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network. You're listening to the Great Plains Archaeology Podcast. Join me as we uncover the rich histories of North America's Great Plains, exploring the latest archaeological discoveries and past cultures that shaped this storied region. Welcome to the podcast.
00:00:22
Speaker
Hey,
Introduction to Dr. Carlton Shield Chief Gover
00:00:23
Speaker
everyone. Welcome to Episode 12 of the Great Plains Archaeology Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Carlton Shield, Chief Gover, and I am thrilled to have you join me on this exciting journey through the rich and fascinating histories of North America's Great Plains.
Honoring Lance Foster's Legacy
00:00:39
Speaker
So for episode 12, this is going to be a bit of a somber episode. Not sure if it's going to take the whole 30 minutes, but today's episode, I want to remember a mentor of mine who recently passed away and that would be Lance Foster.
00:01:03
Speaker
of the Iowa tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. Lance, it was it was kind of sudden for many of us that heard, and I really just want to take this time to spread the word about Lance for those that listen to this podcast or have an interest in Great Plains archaeology or tribal historic preservation.
00:01:28
Speaker
so um Lance passed away in his sleep on January 12th of this year. It came as a shock to many of us. When I read the text that I received from a colleague and friend of mine, I could hardly believe it because I was supposed to see Lance that Wednesday.
Unfinished Work and DNA Research
00:01:50
Speaker
A couple of days later, we had plans with myself and je ah Dr. Jennifer Raff of the University of Kansas. me We were going to drive up to White Cloud, which is the headquarters for the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, to meet with Lance, who's the tribal historic preservation officer for the for the Iowa way up there to talk about a DNA work and
00:02:15
Speaker
some questions that Lance had, and we were really excited to work with him and talk with him. And, uh, I don't want to get too much into it, but you know, part of those conversations we had was he knew he was retiring soon and wanted to push the field in a different direction and do something cool on his way out. And it kind of sucked because I was really looking forward to seeing him.
Lance Foster's Career and Contributions
00:02:38
Speaker
But, uh, so just to give you guys a background, Lance he passed away at the age of 64.
00:02:45
Speaker
Lance was raised in Helena, Montana, where he graduated from Helena high school in 1978. He, uh, he was an artist among other things, unattended the Institute of American Indian arts and later earned a bachelor's degree from university of Montana at Missoula.
00:03:04
Speaker
got his master's in anthropology and landscape architecture from Iowa State University, where he met, you know, like archeology is a small field. He met some other soon to be, or later on in life, tippos or tribal archeologists such as Karen Brunso from Chickasaw Nation when he was at Iowa. And he worked for the National Forest Service in Montana, also in Santa Fe, but he was also the director of native rights.
00:03:32
Speaker
and Honolulu. But in 2013 is when he moved to White Cloud up in Northern Kansas, on the Kansas-Nebraska border, where he became the tri the tribal historic preservation officer for the Iowa tribe. And he also served as the vice chair of the tribe for a bit. That was like later on, I think like early 2000s. And, ah you know, I met Lance in person in 2019. I don't know if he was vice chair then or is just about to be But he had actually awarded me, he was on the Native American Student Award Committee for the Plains Anthropological Society back in that time, and he's the one that but gave me that award. But I met him in person
00:04:18
Speaker
in 2019 at Lincoln, Nebraska. I was there with a former field school student at the time and history in Nebraska, which is now I think just back to the Nebraska Historical Society that um came out with a new exhibit with oral traditions and Roger Echo Hawk did one for the Pawnee and Lance was the other, but Lance was present. And I made a point to see it come out and he was really excited to talk to me. And we chatted for a bit as he was dealing with a lot of other folks. And that's what started it. And, um, I kept in contact with Lance and, and I'm just trying to set the stage. I don't want to make this about me because I want to talk about Lance and a bit and kind of his impact that he had in central plains archeology and working with archeologists and nag print stuff. But Lance is one of the, uh,
00:05:18
Speaker
when I was doing this online exhibit for Dr. Taylor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Lance is one of the tippos we interviewed about horses. And so you can still go hear him speak for that exhibit if you go to that website and I'll put it in the episode description. And um he was great. He was a lot of fun. I remember when we were recording that, like in the middle of the recording, someone just like barged into his office and like threw something away in his
Cultural Heritage and Education
00:05:44
Speaker
trash can. And he was just like, what the heck guys?
00:05:47
Speaker
It was just this funny moment. And then again, Lance, I hosted a session for the Plains Anthros Society. We did a forum, essentially it was on like the effects of NAGPRA. and archaeology on indigenous cultural heritage stewards and professionals. And so it was just indigenous folks. And Lance was one that came out and he just spoke so eloquently. And that was like this long three hour session. It was, it was bonkers. But Lance was there and stood up and gave really sage advice. I was like really appreciative of that. And we've like kept in contact. He was always like really active on Facebook too, even up until the day he passed away.
00:06:30
Speaker
and know he was super be mean Roger and I and invited him. We have this Facebook group chat i like page. It's called Pawnee Land. It's just for folks in the Pawnee Nation and around it. and Lance was like always a contributor, always bringing in IOA perspectives. it was It was a blast to have him be a part of that.
00:06:53
Speaker
And one of the last things he posted Sunday night at like 3.05 AM. So the day he did, who knows what happened? So he posted this early in the morning and like a little bit later, he didn't, he didn't wake up. And that was just one of those things. Like you'd go on Facebook in the mornings and like, I'd check my phone and like Lance had been posting things in like really wee hours in the morning and it was just like, man, what is going on?
00:07:23
Speaker
You know, the last the last thing he, we know he's he's sad or at least shared with everybody was I had this dream this night about many things, but in one, I was in a building or house and looking at windows probably three or four stories up, kind of like the mission.
00:07:43
Speaker
And I was standing with two older Indian relatives, not people I know in waking life. We were looking down this town's parks and there were these groups of young people in different kinds of almost reenactor units. And I realized they were kind of a combination of civil war and medieval crusader groups. They were getting themselves all whipped up into frenzy. I was standing up there with those two older Indian lady relatives.
00:08:07
Speaker
And then looked out the other side of the windows and there were two Ravens in the tree there and I started singing to them a song to the Ravens. It was from one of our old stories and it went head crow. When I kill you eat that came out of me, but I don't remember the rest. And, uh, Roger Echo Hawk and put Lance's post and a picture of him with one of Lance's last drawings he shared with everybody on Facebook as a last thing. And Lance was just such a,
00:08:36
Speaker
just such a force, just, just such a force for a number of reasons. Like one in, in archeology and even as his job as a tipo for like many of the things he did, like he was also an artist and like bringing, turning help, being part of the mission to turn the CAW mission, historic mission into a museum and cultural center.
00:09:02
Speaker
being so active as a tribal sort of preservation officer, along with his deputy Tip O'Darrell. Also knowing the language and revitalizing language. He wrote a book on i the Indians of Iowa too. And when I was like really excited when I took this KU job to actually be closer, not only to my own tribe, but like Lance was only two hours away. And I visited M&E toward me around the Res and the Leary site and the tribal national park that Lance helped to found.
00:09:31
Speaker
And like, just his library was incredible. Like the amount of books they had up there. And one of the things I asked him when I arrived was, um you know, what are the books on the Iowa? And like, I didn't realize like how, you know, the Pawnee, we do actually have a different number of books about us. I mean, nowhere near like the Lakotas or some of those other like horse nomad groups, but the Iowa had like virtually nothing. And it was just kind of sad.
00:10:00
Speaker
But Lance knew so much, and you know, Lance's, you know, Lance's Iowa name was, uh, Yerogre, which is, uh, translates roughly to finds what is sought, which just seems like such a, a good name for him.
Personal Reflections and Mentorship
00:10:19
Speaker
And he was also someone like, I, I can always go to my, to Matt Reed or Marty Olenci for the Pawnee. Do not get me wrong.
00:10:31
Speaker
but Lance was always someone I also went to very often to get that outside perspective. And he would always just lay it straight. And one of the things I remember calling him, cause I was like whipped, up I whipped myself up into a ah tizzy over something and you know, Lance got me to chill out and he was like, Hey man, the most important thing is like things are going home and you gotta be in a good space to do that. And when we had this big old,
00:11:01
Speaker
NAGPRA summit here at KU, you know, with all these tribes and Lance was there and he was just such a calming presence. And that's, and he wasn't just calming to other Indians, but like to, to archeologists and museum folks, Lance just had this, it was just incredible at bridging that gap or walking that line between being an archeologist, an educated archeologist,
00:11:28
Speaker
and being an indigenous leader in tribal sovereignty. And he didn't get a PhD and that's not you know that's not something to regret. And something I've talked about definitely on ruin a life in ruins, but maybe not so much here is that more often than not, like the first tribal archeologists don't end up becoming PhDs or working at R1s.
00:11:58
Speaker
they get called back to their nation to serve in the capacity in a capacity. And Lance was that. was that and know Lance was an early tippo in the Great Plains, in the Central Plains especially. And he was he was always wearing this like almost like fisherman's vest with all the pockets. He always had everything he needed. And you know he just worked to protect his people. and working with other tribes as well to the best of their abilities. And the way he worked with my tribe and how he could work with my NAGPRA officer, Marty only a chief, and, and how he was a mentor to a lot of people, not only myself, but like other TIPOs or NAGPRA officers. Like I made those calls that, uh, that Monday,
00:12:56
Speaker
when I heard the news from some IOWAs and these were IOWAs that I knew weren't necessarily tuned into the archaeological community. So I was the one that I felt was responsible to make those calls to my friends and colleagues who I knew who knew Lance. And I wanted to make sure they heard about it before they found out on like a Facebook post. And man, that was rough. Like I knew the impact that Lance had on me.
00:13:26
Speaker
And to hear it from other people that I respect and who I, I learned from and who I look up to hear what they had to say about him and the impact he had. And I don't know if he, I don't think I ever gave Lance, ever told Lance how much I respected him and looked up to him. And we got to the point, you know, he, he started calling me nephew and I, you know, I started calling him uncle.
00:13:57
Speaker
in that Indian way, in that Native way. We could talk about things and joke about things when it came to a lot of this stuff. And I'm really glad I got to be here at Kansas to get to see him. And I'm going to i to take a break. I know I'm running over, but we'll be we'll be right back. I'm going to clean myself up. I'm sorry. ah We'll be right back with episode 12. And we're back. I apologize for getting a little emotional on that last bit. So I don't want to take up too much time.
00:14:26
Speaker
And we haven't totally got into like what a tribal historic preservation yeah officer is. But for now, just know that, you know, Lance was very much engaged in being a leader in NACRA repatriations on the central plains.
Philosophy and Writings on Tribal Heritage
00:14:43
Speaker
And not only working in Kansas and Nebraska, but also Iowa and ancestral territories before they they got to Nebraska and Kansas.
00:14:52
Speaker
and like Iowa and beyond, and was very much a part of the ongoing negotiations with the ah pipestone pipeline that's going on. And you know hearing some of the conversations and worries that are going on with that is is just incredible. And if you want to read more about what a Tippo does, and specifically what Lance did as a Tippo, I'm going to put this link in the description below. but Lance wrote this perspective piece for American Indian indian Magazine called This Far, No Farther.
00:15:21
Speaker
from winter of 2022. and one you know Lance summed up what Tippo work was. I think in that last paragraph, tribal shark preservation officers often must seem to reflect the guardianship roles of those old warrior societies. Following rules, we unite to defend our lands and ancestors. Sometimes we have to plant a staff and say this far, no farther. And Lance really encapsulated that attitude of many Tippos and anchor officers that I've come in, come into play with, that they are really the frontline of protecting
00:15:59
Speaker
tribal sovereignty as it comes to their ancestors and cultural heritage. Something that's not lost on myself and my colleagues in indigenous archaeology and something I try to like tell my students a lot, that this just isn't a job, which came out of kind of like dialing back to that forum I had mentioned that Lance was a part of something that him and Mary Baker had mentioned, Mary Baker being at the time working for the, um, uh, rikuras out of Mandana dots and a rikra out of the Dakotas, Northern relative of mine. You know, they express when talking to archeologists, you know, like when you retire or when you go home for the night or when you're no longer an archeologist, know that that stuff you do is, you know, is behind you that you can just hang up your hat. Like that's a job, but as indigenous people in these roles, as tippos and ag professors,
00:16:49
Speaker
you know, even if, even if they're not in the roles, like what archeologists, museum personnel do to their heritage still affects them. Like there's no decompressing, there's no getting away from it as an indigenous person that it still happens to
Impact on Archaeological Community
00:17:03
Speaker
them. They still feel the effects and it's ongoing and trying to really get it to people's heads about what archeology and museums can, you know, their effect on indigenous people. So man I'm going to miss that man. He was thinking about some cool stuff too. Some of the work that we had in play was really cutting edge stuff. and it's It's a bummer. and What really worries me is is what happens now with with his position. and
00:17:35
Speaker
What are the Iowa going to do? Whoever takes that role is Tippo. you know so that So in their department, Lance and Darrell, they have a Tippo and Deputy Tippo and they split up the roles. So they don't have an official NAGPRA officer, but one of them is the NAGPRA officer kind of deal. Just what's going to happen. And I wasn't able to go to his memorial service, which is going to haunt me for a very long time.
00:18:04
Speaker
But Lance just really had an incredible impact. At this point, I'm really just kind of babbling on. I kind of feel bad for taking that break. But for those that are interested in Kansas, and Nebraska, and Iowa, archaeology, you gotta know Lance. Gotta know Lance's work. He was ah pretty critical. He is pretty critical to the field. Field there, I'm gonna link his books, link his obituary.
00:18:30
Speaker
But Lance was just such a down-to-earth dude. Even though he was doing some pretty emotionally draining stuff, he was still had time for art, still had time to laugh and share stories and talk with people. He was just such an incredible mentor in so many different ways.
00:18:47
Speaker
And he will be missed. He will be missed.
Episode Closure and Acknowledgements
00:18:51
Speaker
So with that, this has been episode 12 of the Great Plains Archeology Podcast. I'm sorry, it wasn't a full length episode. This was a little bit of a downer topic, but I wanted to do right by Lance. I just want to talk to him for a bit and get out of my chest. So for everyone listening, you know, if there's someone important in your life or a good mentor might be a good time to reach out to him, just let him know. I was thinking about him. So with that, I'll see you all next time.
00:19:19
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Great Plains archaeology podcast. You can follow me on Instagram at Pawnee underscore archaeologist, and you can also email me at Great Plains Ark Podcast at gmail dot.com. And remember, anybody can love the mountains, but it takes a soul to love the prairie. American author Willa Cather.
00:19:45
Speaker
The Archaeology Podcast Network is 10 years old this year. Our executive producer is Ashley Airy, our social media coordinator is Matilda Seabreck, and our chief editor is Rachel Rodin. The Archaeology Podcast Network was co-founded by Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle in 2014 and is part of CulturoMedia and DigTech LLC. This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archpodnet.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.