Adam Dunstan | University of Alaska Anchorage (original) (raw)

Papers by Adam Dunstan

Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2021

In 2018, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the end of the Hill Cumorah Pa... more In 2018, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the end of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, a seemingly minor policy decision which, I argue, reflects major changes in how a faith which has earnestly sought to present itself as mainstream American in the twenty-first century is attempting to reconfigure itself in the twenty-first century. Drawing on ethnographic research, I argue that the Hill Cumorah Pageant (an outdoor production on the hill) utilises discursive and spatial practices which connect a specific version of the Book of Mormon 'Promised Land' narrative to the US via a process of spatially anchoring the Book of Mormon landscape and establishing continuity between Nephites and the modern US. In so doing, the narrative establishes a moral geography wherein inhabitancy in the land implicitly places people under covenant to follow God's laws. In this regard, we can think of the Hill Cumorah as space both sacred and sacralising-as sacralising space which 'sets apart' the US in a way which may now seem overly local for an internationalising faith.

Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture, 2021

In studies of Native American knowledge, the sacred ecologies of Indigenous people are often cont... more In studies of Native American knowledge, the sacred ecologies of Indigenous people are often contrasted with (allegedly secular) Western science. Other scholars have challenged this binary, sometimes under a model of 'hybrid knowledge' wherein Indigenous knowledge is 'integrated' into settler conservation. I argue for a different model, wherein unique expressions of sacred ecological knowledge emerge from the ground up within environmental activism. Drawing on ethnographic research with Protect the Peaks, a movement to halt expansion of a ski resort on an Arizona mountain sacred to thirteen Indigenous nations, I show how, in Protect the Peaks' public messages, ceremonial standards and scienti c studies are utilized to highlight snowmaking as a form of toxic desecration. This discourse, coupled with presenting snowmaking as a threat to health, ecosystems, and sacredness simultaneously, is an articulation of Indigenous knowledge which presents a direct critique to hegemonic distinctions of culture/nature and sacred/secular in policy and scholarship.

Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association, 2022

Recent decades have seen the emergence of a nascent anthropology of Mormonism.* We demonstrate ho... more Recent decades have seen the emergence of a nascent anthropology of Mormonism.* We demonstrate how anthropological work on Mormonism has crystallized around a set of themes with significant potential for both anthropology and Mormon social sciences: (1) religious authority, (2) ritual and the body, (3) physical engagement with Church history, (4) globalization, (5) gender and kinship, and (6) disbelief and heterodoxy. We argue that further progress can be achieved by focusing on the diverse individual experiences within Latter Day Saint groups.

Journal of Political Ecology, 2019

Resiliency and adaptation are increasingly prevalent in climate change policy as well as scholars... more Resiliency and adaptation are increasingly prevalent in climate change policy as well as scholarship, yet scholars have brought forward several critiques of these concepts along analytical as well as political lines. Pressing questions include: who resiliency is for, what it takes to maintain it, and the scale at which it takes place. The concept of "perverse resilience", for example, proposes that resiliency for one subsystem may threaten the well-being of the overall system. In this article, I propose the related concept of "perverse adaptation", where one actor or institution's adaptation to climate change in fact produces aftershocks and secondary impacts upon other groups. Drawing on ethnographic and sociolinguistic research in northern Arizona regarding artificial snowmaking at a ski resort on a sacred mountain, I elucidate resort supporters' and others' attempts to frame snowmaking as a sustainable adaptation to drought (and, implicitly, climate change). I counterpoise these framings with narratives from local activists as well as Diné (Navajo) individuals regarding the significant impacts of snowmaking on water supply and quality, sacred lands and ceremony, public health, and, ironically, carbon emissions. In so doing, I argue that we must interrogate resilience policies for their unexpected "victims of adaptation." Résumé La résilience et l'adaptation sont de plus en plus répandues dans la politique sur le changement climatique et dans les études sur ces questions, mais les universitaires ont avancé plusieurs critiques de ces concepts selon des lignes analytiques et politiques. Les questions pressantes comprennent: à qui s'adresse la résilience, ce qu'il faut pour la maintenir et l'échelle à laquelle elle se déroule. Le concept de «résilience perverse», par exemple, propose que la résilience pour un sous-système puisse menacer le bien-être du système global. Dans cet article, je propose le concept d '«adaptation perverse», où l'adaptation d'un acteur ou d'une institution au changement climatique produit en fait des répliques et des impacts secondaires sur d'autres groupes. En m'appuyant sur des recherches ethnographiques et sociolinguistiques dans le nord de l'Arizona concernant l'enneigement artificiel dans une station de ski sur une montagne sacrée, j'explique les tentatives des partisans de la station et d'autres pour concevoir l'enneigement comme une adaptation durable à la sécheresse (et, implicitement, au changement climatique). Je contrebalance ces cadrages avec des récits d'activistes locaux ainsi que de personnes Diné (Navajo) concernant les impacts importants de l'enneigement sur la qualité et l'approvisionnement en eau, les terres sacrées et les cérémonies, la santé publique et, ironiquement, les émissions de carbone. Ce faisant, je soutiens que nous devons interroger les politiques de résilience pour leurs "victimes d'adaptation" inattendues. Resumen Resiliencia y adaptación se han vuelto cada vez más comunes tanto en política sobre cambio climático como en su estudio. Sin embargo, académicos han formulado diversas críticas de estos conceptos con argumentos tanto analíticos como políticos. Entre las cuestiones más apremiantes están: para quién es la resiliencia, qué se requiere para mantenerla, y la escala en la que se presenta. El concepto de "resiliencia perversa", por ejemplo, propone que la resiliencia para un subsistema puede amenazar el bienestar del sistema completo. En este artículo propongo el concepto relacionado de "adaptación perversa", donde la adaptación de un actor o institución al cambio climático produce, de hecho, réplicas e impactos secundarios sobre otros grupos. Con base en trabajo etnográfico y sociolingüístico sobre la producción artificial de nieve en un centro de esquí, en una montaña sagrada en el norte de Arizona, ilustro los intentos por parte de los partidarios del centro, así como de otros actores, por plantear la fabricación de nieve como adaptación sustentable a la sequía (e implícitamente, al cambio climático). Luego, pongo en contrapeso estos planteamientos con las narrativas de activistas locales, así como de individuos Diné (Navajos), con respecto a los fuertes impactos de la fabricación de nieve sobre el suministro y calidad del agua, las tierras sagradas y ceremoniales, salud pública y, de manera irónica, las emisiones de carbono. De este modo, discuto que debemos interrogar las políticas de resiliencia por sus inesperadas "víctimas de la adaptación". Palabras clave: política en materia de cambio climático, adaptación, resiliencia perversa, sitios sagrados, Diné (Navajo)

American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 2018

Sacred site law within the United States often fails to meaningfully protect indigenous cultural ... more Sacred site law within the United States often fails to meaningfully protect indigenous cultural landscapes. One reason for this failure is ambiguous language within legislation which courts interpret in accordance with hegemonic understandings of land, thus marginalizing indigenous ontologies. Drawing on research involving ski resort expansion on the San Francisco Peaks, I demonstrate instances in which sacred site law was construed so narrowly as to a priori preclude indigenous ways of knowing, particularly in regards to the nature of land, use of sacred objects, and pollution. These examples highlight how ontological bias significantly limits the possibilities for sacred land protection.
From: American Indian Culture and Research Journal Volume 41, Number 4

Convergence: Being Human

Recent debate over the expansion of a ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks, one of four Navajo s... more Recent debate over the expansion of a ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks, one of four Navajo sacred mountains, requires an ethnographic analysis of Navajo concerns with artificial snowmaking. Other research has mainly focused on the legal aspects of this conflict without examining the core cultural concepts which have led Navajo to label the artificial snow as “desecration”. This oral presentation helps situate anti-snowmaking sentiments in Navajo concepts of sacredness. It is based on research done June through August, 2009 in Leupp, Arizona. Semi-structured and informal interviews were used to explore the connection between traditional Navajo beliefs regarding the San Francisco Peaks and perceptions of the impact of artificial snowmaking. The Navajo believe that this mountain is sacred due to its role in the ceremonial system, and because the Peaks are a place of Deities, sacred animals, important medicinal plants, and personified life. Part of their strong emotional and spiritual connection with the Peaks is a felt duty to respect the Mountain by leaving it in a natural condition. Community members oppose snowmaking in part because it is seen as an unnatural force which will damage the sacred aspects of this Mountain. Specifically, snowmaking will cause damage to the Deities, ceremonial usage, medicinal plants, and animal habitat provided by this Sacred Mountain. Snowmaking is “matter out of place” that violates a relationship that the Navajo have with the Peaks which inherently protects the sacred qualities of the mountain from destruction. This has important implications for federal management of this sacred land, and also for anthropological theories of sacred space among the Navajo.

Indigenous Policy Journal, 2012

How do we assess the damages done to an indigenous community by environmental disaster, by pollut... more How do we assess the damages done to an indigenous community by environmental disaster, by pollution, or by changes in the environment? One way is to look at the direct health impacts on members of a community, for example, the effects of uranium mining on water quality and cancer in the Navajo Nation (Robyn 2010). Another lens is the direct effects on the economic livelihoods of individuals in a community, for example how pollution impacts treaty rights to shellfish harvesting by pollution of shellfish beds . A third type of impact also needs to be considered: the impact of environmental threats on the beliefs, feeling, and practices by which indigenous communities and individuals connect in sacred ways with the environment.

Indigenous Policy Journal, 2010

Teaching Documents by Adam Dunstan

Syllabus for a summer course in the anthropology of Christianity.

Drafts by Adam Dunstan

Little covered in the news, there is a small but very affluent community in Montana, known as Coa... more Little covered in the news, there is a small but very affluent community in Montana, known as Coalsburg, of over 8,000 people (primarily white) which is currently fighting tooth and nail against an oil pipeline. The path of the pipeline will take it through three major graveyards where the community's ancestors were buried over generations. It will also demolish several churches, including the St. Aquinas Cathedral, which is an irreplaceable holy site for the (relatively small) Montana Catholic population, and which was the site of a martyrdom of an early Catholic missionary. It will also go directly through a river upstream of their community, their primary source of drinking water, meaning that any type of accidental leak (not uncommon for oil pipelines) would cripple isolated Coalsburg's water supply within minutes. The community is of course opposed to all of this; they, unfortunately, were not properly consulted before the federal government approved the pipeline.

A reflection on some of the incomplete or inaccurate assumptions embedded in media representation... more A reflection on some of the incomplete or inaccurate assumptions embedded in media representations of a sacred sites conflict (snowmaking on the San Francisco Peaks) affecting several indigenous nations in Arizona. This is not a publication per se, simply a draft writing piece, although at some point I may seek a venue in which to publish it.

Conference Presentations by Adam Dunstan

Artificial snowmaking and ski resort expansion on the western of the four sacred mountains, Dook’... more Artificial snowmaking and ski resort expansion on the western of the four sacred mountains, Dook’o’oosłííd (in English, the San Francisco Peaks) has been one of the most impactful and visible sacred sites battles between the Navajo Nation and the U.S. federal government. This paper describes research undertaken in 2009 with residents of Leupp Chapter and also in Tsaile on perceptions of snowmaking and its impacts. This project departed from previous research on this controversy, which [had up to this point] often focused on legal or policy analyses, to present ethnographically the concerns of several rural Navajo Nation residents with snowmaking. Interviews explored beliefs regarding Dook’o’oosłííd, its place in individuals’ ways of life, and the impacts of snowmaking. Recurring themes included the ideas that snowmaking would curtail the ability to do prayers on the Mountain, harm medicinal plants and sacred animals, disrespect a place of worship, and harm the Mountain as a living Being. Many expressed the idea that artificial snow on the Peaks would have negative impacts in part due to its chemical makeup and association with human waste, but more importantly because it was an unwise attempt to control nature by manipulating the seasons. Snowmaking from the perspective of these individuals would have significant deleterious impacts on Navajo culture and their traditional way of life. This paper concludes by considering more recent research (2012-2015) on activist efforts to stop snowmaking, primarily in the border town of Flagstaff, and considers how these activists’ public statements have incorporated and expressed traditional Navajo concerns, and the ways in which these sentiments have been interpreted by the general population of Flagstaff. These findings have important implications for academic studies of culture change and the social construction of the environment, and for applied studies of sacred sites management and preservation.

Navajo sacred sites activism presents a trenchant critique of mainstream environmental ethics in ... more Navajo sacred sites activism presents a trenchant critique of mainstream environmental ethics in the United States, especially those embodied in the policy decisions of federal environmental agencies. This paper presents findings from fieldwork with groups operating in Flagstaff, Arizona, working to halt ski resort development on Dook’o’oosłííd (the San Francisco Peaks) a Navajo sacred mountain and place of prayer, medicinal plant collection, and ritual. Many Navajo interviewed feel this mountain is threatened in its ceremonial purity by artificial snowmaking from wastewater. Blending the findings and studies of environmental scientists and the politics of anarchism and anti-colonialism with traditional Navajo teachings about a sacred mountain, Navajo activists in Flagstaff, Arizona, have cooperated with non-Navajo environmentalists to present a hybrid view of the landscape and to contend for an environmental ethic that is at once scientific, political, and deeply religious, and yet also appeals to those who hold a more secular view of the mountain. This paper explores how this joint activism comes about, and the very pointed critique it presents to environmental ethics found in U.S. policy, including concepts of nature as quantifiable, land as divisible, and living beings as resources.