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dissertation for the Department of Anthropology at the University of Georgia, Daniel Bigman
wanted to examine occupation continuity on the Ocmulgee plateau during the early
Mississippian period. Bigman chose to use minimally invasive techniques, but still acquired
usable data.18These tests stand in stark contrast past archaeological work done at Ocmulgee.
Even though his proposed research did not involve large excavations, nor did it disturb any
known burial sites, both Bigman and the National Park Service (NPS) insisted on Native
approval. After the NAGPRA consultation process and receiving formal consent from the 13
tribes with NAGPRA rights at Ocmulgee, Bigman proceeded with his surveys.19 The fact that he
intended to study pre-Columbian civilization but sought approval from modern tribes
demonstrates that some anthropologists are beginning to recognize the legitimacy of American
Indian claims to cultural affiliation with prehistoric peoples. Bigman showed that continuous
occupation on the Macon plateau occurred earlier, and persisted longer, through the entire early
Mississippian period, than previously thought. Bigman's reassessment of these models suggests
that from an early date, Native American settlement at Ocmulgee was far more established than
prior scholarship postulated. By examining existing historic and anthropological evidence, while
adding Muscogee (Creek) worldviews and oral traditions, a convincing argument for the end of
this Western-imposed cultural isolationism emerges.

With hundreds of thousands of their ancestors’ remains in the collections of museums,
Native American groups and activists struggled for decades to claim their sacred past; NAGPRA
is the strongest legislative attempt to assist in this endeavor to date. It has broad implications,
since it applies to many organizations which receive federal funding, and it limits the ability of
those institutions to withhold ancestral remains and sacred artifacts from Indigenous groups.

18 Daniel Bigman, “An Early Mississippian Settlement History of Ocmulgee” (Doctoral dissertation UGA: Athens
2012) 5-21.

19 Davis, interview by author, Macon, February 1, 2018.

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