John R. Welch

Associate Professor • Canada Research Chair
Co-Management • Indigenous Heritage Stewardship and Archaeological Resource Management
B.A. (Anthropology, Hamilton College)
M.A. (Anthropology, University of Arizona)
Ph.D. (Anthropology, University of Arizona)

John Welch is a social archaeologist with research and policy interests grounded in broad questions about how communities develop, employ, and sustain biophysical and cultural conservation precepts and practices…. What cultural values and historical circumstances influence whether and how we carry forward places, objects, and traditions? How do stewardship practices and policies affect governance in general and First Nations sovereignty in particular? What lessons about sustainability and other forms of recommended practice derive from collaborations with indigenous and place-based communities?

Defining indigenous heritage stewardship, as the culturally appropriate protection and use of cultural and ecological legacies by Indigenous communities, Dr. Welch employs community partnerships as “engines” for research, training, and outreach. The overall goal is to harmonize local community, academic, and societal interests relating to landscapes, places, objects, and intangible associations that provide people with orientation, identity, and vitality, as well as food, shelter, and other ecosystem services.

In pursuit of this broad goal, Dr. Welch facilitates collaborations that formalize and advance community agendas to explore what archaeology can do—how archaeological sites, methods, perspectives, and data can enhance land and place histories, stewardship practices, Indigenous community capacities, and intercultural reconciliation.

Prior to joining the SFU faculty in 2005 Dr. Welch spent two decades working for and with the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, where he continues to serve as an advisor on the protection of sacred sites and the redevelopment of the Fort Apache National Register Historic District. Research and outreach partners in British Columbia include the Tla’amin, Katzie, and Stó:lō First Nations.

Some recent publications include:

• Welch, J.R., And Robert C. Brauchli (2010) “Subject To The Right Of The Secretary Of The Interior”: The White Mountain Apache Reclamation Of The Fort Apache And Theodore Roosevelt School Historic District, Wicazo Sa Review 25(1):47-73
• Welch, J.R., Mark K. Altaha, Karl A. Hoerig and Ramon Riley (2009) Best Cultural Heritage Stewardship Practices by and for the White Mountain Apache Tribe, Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 11(2):148-160
• Discretionary Desecration: American Indian Sacred Sites, Dzil Nchaa Si An (Mount Graham, Arizona), and Federal Agency Decision Making. (Welch, J.R., Michael V. Nixon and Ramon Riley 2009) American Indian Culture and Research Journal 33(4):117-147
• National Historic Landmark Nomination for Fort Apache and Theodore Roosevelt School. (J.R. Welch 2008) Historic Sites Review Board, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.
• Places, Displacements, Histories and Memories at a Frontier Icon in Indian Country. In Monuments, Landscapes, and Cultural Memory, edited by Patricia E. Rubertone, pp. 101-134. (J.R. Welch 2008) World Archaeological Congress and Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California.
• ‘A Monument to Native American Civilization‘: Byron Cummings’ Enduring Vision for Kinishba Ruins National Historic Landmark. (J.R. Welch 2007). Journal of the Southwest 49(1): 1-94.
• The Esther Henderson and Chuck Abbott White Mountain Apache Photographs (J.R. Welch 2007). Journal of the Southwest 49(1):93-127.
• Putting Patria into Repatriation: Cultural Affiliations of White Mountain Apache Tribe Lands. (Welch, J.R., and T. J. Ferguson 2007). Journal of Social Archaeology 7:171-198.
• Archaeology, Stewardship, and Sovereignty (Welch, J.R., Mark Altaha, Doreen Gatewood, Karl Hoerig, and Ramon Riley. (2006). The SAA Archaeological Record 6(4):17-20, 57.
• Retracing The Battle Of Cibecue: Western Apache, Documentary, And Archaeological Interpretations. (J.R. Welch, C. Colwell-Chanthaphonh, M. Altaha 2005). Kiva 71(2):133-163.
• Field Schools Without Trowels: Teaching Archaeological Ethics and Heritage Preservation in a Collaborative Context (Barbara J. Mills, Mark Altaha, J.R. Welch, and T. J. Ferguson, 2008). In Collaborating at the Trowel’s Edge: Teaching and Learning in Indigenous Archaeology, edited by Stephen W. Silliman, pp. 25-49. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
• The Legacy of Fort Apache: Interpretive Challenges at a Community Historic Site. (N. Mahaney, J.R. Welch 2002). Journal of the Southwest 44: 35-47.
• Reclaiming Land and Spirit in the Western Apache Homeland. (J.R. Welch, R. Riley 2002). American Indian Quarterly 25(1):5-12.
• The Archaeology of Ancient Tactical Sites (J.R. Welch, T. Bostwick, eds. 2001). The Arizona Archaeologist No. 32, Phoenix.
• The White Mountain Apache Tribe Heritage Program: Origins, Operations, and Challenges. (J.R. Welch 2000). Working Together: Native Americans and Archaeologists, pp. 67-83. Kurt E. Dongoske, Mark Aldenderfer, and Karen Doehner, eds. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC.
• Heritage Management by American Indian Tribes in the Southwestern United States. (R. Anyon, T.J. Ferguson, J.R. Welch 2000). Cultural Resource Management in Contemporary Society, pp. 120-141, Francis P. McManamon and Alf Hutton, eds. Routledge, New York.

Dr. Welch teaches The Social Science of Resource Management (REM 601), Applied Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Stewardship (ARCH 334/REM 660) and Archaeology of the American Southwest. (ARCH 379).