Campus
- Downtown Toronto (St. George)
Fields of Study
- Archaeology
- Sociocultural Anthropology
- North America
Areas of Interest
Fields of Study: Historical Archaeology, African Diaspora Archaeology, Black Studies, Geography
Research Keywords: Race, Blackness, Placemaking, Violence, GIS, Early 20th Century, Black Feminism, Black Geographies
Research Regions: United States
Biography
nkem ike studies the archaeology of anti-Black race massacres and violence in the early 20th century United States. Through this work, she highlights the ways in which three contemporary Black communities in Springfield, IL; Tulsa, OK; and Rosewood, FL, contend with the historical impact of mass racial violence. Using data such as the archive, archaeology, and memorialization, this research interrogates the structuring of anti-Black violence, the generational impact of racial violence on the altered landscape, and identifies the various and diverse ways contemporary Black communities remember historical violence. She used GIS and early 20th century newspapers to map every documented anti-Black race massacre between 1900-1935. By centering contemporary Black communities, she brings forth the historical and temporal effects of white supremacist tools such as erasure, dislocation, and forced migration.
In addition to her research, she participated in several training and community projects. She is in collaboration with the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS), which is becoming the standard for material culture analysis in African diaspora archaeology. Most recently, she participated in two archaeological projects in Tulsa, OK, associated with the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. The first is the mass graves investigation where she analyzes the human remains of possible race massacre victims. Mapping Historical Trauma in Tulsa 1921-2021, this community-based project conducts archaeological explorations at historically significant locations in the Historic Greenwood District
Selected Publications
Ike, Nkem. (forthcoming). “Seeking Justice in Black Spaces: The Geography, Memory, and Power of the Tulsa Race Massacre.” Urban Archaeology of and as Dissonance Special Issue in Historical Archaeology.
Ike, Nkem, Gabrielle Miller, and Gabby Omoni Hartemann. 2020. “Anti-Racist Archaeology: Your Time is Now.” SAA Archaeological Record 20(4): 12-16.
Ike, Nkem. 2020. “Power, Politics, and Place: The Impact and Archaeology of early 20th Century Anti-Black Race Massacres in the U.S.” OKPAN Quarterly 3(1): 10-15.