Latest Posts

Beyond Ready

Reflections

It is almost unbelievable that in less than two weeks (as I write this) I will be on my way to Willacy County, Texas to begin participating in the Beyond Borders mission. I have been passionate about applying an anthropological approach to humanitarian efforts for years now, but this will be my first experience. I want to be as informed as possible before arriving in Texas, so I have been spending some time over winter-break reading about this relatively silent mass disaster that is taking place in our country. It is truly heartbreaking to hear some of the personal stories of those involved, so I am both excited and nervous to embrace the challenges ahead. However, I am confident our team will work together to reach our designated goals.

This January, we will be solely focused on exhumation, and I will assume the position of mapping apprentice. Leann, the current mapping expert for our team, has gained a great deal of valuable experience through Beyond Borders, and other cases in which the University of Indianapolis has assisted law enforcement agencies in Indiana. Every exhumation varies depending on the circumstances, landmarks, vegetation, soil, weather, and so many other factors that I am sure to discover once we get started. I feel so incredibly grateful to have been provided this opportunity because the ability to create accurate hand-drawn and digital maps is such an essential technical skill that is needed for every archaeological situation. I have big shoes to fill as Leann’s apprentice, but I am positive she will be an incredible mentor!

As the trip approaches, I keep thinking about how much this experience is likely to affect my career as an anthropologist and human biologist for the rest of my life. I was not expecting to be nervous or anxious, but as I continue packing and shopping for supplies the reality is sinking in. Even after completing my first semester of graduate school, I feel a bit rusty in osteology. There is so much to learn and constantly refresh upon when pursuing a career in forensic anthropology. As a relatively new student in the program, I hope that I have a strong, solid foundation that will enable me to quickly grasp the methodologies we employ. After hearing all the stories from the students who went to Texas for previous field seasons, I realized how many amazing memories are made during these trips with Beyond Borders. I look forward to meeting professors and students at Texas State University, law enforcement officers, and community members who are also involved in the project. Even though the work days may be brutal at times, working through it alongside my team members will allow me to get to know them on such a more personal level. I am eager to be part of the new memories, laughs, meals, car rides, and moments back at the hotel. This trip will be my first time in Texas, and I cannot imagine a better, more meaningful way to check another state off the list.

January 2, 2018…hurry up and come sooner!

Sammi

 

A new year and a new field season

Community, Environment, Human Rights, Migrant Death, Reflections

In less than a week (as I’m writing this), our group leaves for another trip down to South Texas to assist in the humanitarian effort of identifying the remains of migrants who perished along the US-Mexico border. The first step in this process is the field season (exhuming the remains) and is sometimes the hardest step. This will be my third trip to Texas and even though I’ve been before, I cannot help but to feel a little anxious. My first trip to Texas, our group was at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Falfurrias, Texas which is place where several field seasons had occurred prior to my visit. In our group, we had members that had been to Falfurrias before which made it less apprehensive because I at least knew what to expect in terms of soil consistency and weather. Although, my very first trip to Texas in January 2017 saw record low temperatures in the 30s which none of us were prepared for. It all plays to our motto of ‘expect the unexpected’ and there was no way to know we would be bringing the cold, Indiana weather with us to Texas.

Team members mapping in a trench.
Jan 2017 – Record low temperatures

My second trip to Texas brought our group to a whole new city and cemetery. Although our group spent weeks carefully packing and deciding what tools to bring, nothing prepared us for the soil consistency that we found in Rio Grande City Cemetery. The soil consistency was more similar to cement; hard, compact, rocky soil that could only be penetrated by heavy machinery or a mattic. One of the many differences between Falfurrias and Rio Grande City was that in Rio Grande City, the graves were marked and the cemetery employee who actually made the graves years’ prior, was on scene to help us. The cemetery employee, Sylvestre, was a huge help in locating and systematically excavating the dirt until we were close enough to the actual burial that we could proceed with using our hand tools. As it turned out, the burials were closer to 5-6ft deep in Rio Grande City Cemetery versus only being 3-4ft deep in sandy soil like the graves in Falfurrias.

Back hoe digging a trench.
May 2017 – Sylvestre

For my third trip to Texas, I am not sure what to expect because I feel that the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Falfurrias and the Rio Grande City Cemetery were at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of soil consistency and knowing the exact places were migrants were buried. What I do know, is that our team has a knack for adapting to our environments and always tackling surprises head on. Expect the unexpected is a motto we work by and it has helped us a great deal. I may be feeling apprehensive and a little anxious right now, but I know once we get to Texas, those feelings with dissipate. I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to go back to Texas and help in this humanitarian effort. This experience changes you as a person and to be able to go back for a third season gives you a bittersweet feeling. Right now, I am going to spend the holidays with my family and thinking about the adventure that lies ahead in South Texas. I am unbelievably excited to be a part of this humanitarian effort and I am ready to start another field season with our amazing group from UIndy and Texas State University.

Jessica

A trip of “firsts”

Reflections

11 days (as I write this).  I cannot believe that we only have 11 days before we leave for Texas!  I have been so caught up in final exams, presentations, and finishing PhD applications that it hasn’t hit me until now that we are leaving so soon. I am both excited and nervous for this trip. There will be many “firsts,” and because of this, I am not quite sure what to expect!

This will be our first trip to Willacy County.  This means that we do not know what the soil consistency will be like, what the weather will be like, what the burials will consist of, or how the local community will react that what we are doing.  Willacy Co. is located about one hour northeast of McAllen, TX, where the Sacred Heart Humanitarian Respite Center is located.  During our trip last January, we traveled from Falfurrias to McAllen to visit the respite center and aid the volunteers with welcoming, feeding, and clothing the individuals who crossed the border and sought asylum.  It will be nice to be so close to McAllen and have the constant reminder of this amazing organization and all of the incredible individuals who volunteer their time and goods to help these migrants.

This will be our first time conducting exhumations on private property.  The exhumations in Falfurrias and Rio Grande City both took place in county cemeteries, so this aspect of the trip will be a completely new experience for all of us.  I look forward to learning and understanding how to navigate this process a new way.

This will be my first time having a mapping apprentice.  In past field seasons, I have been on my own when creating the hand-drawn maps, and I have relied on my judgement and experience when setting up a baseline and choosing data points.  This trip, I will need to teach and involve Sammi in all aspects of the map-making process so she can continue this task after I leave UIndy.  Choosing points in the field to create a map is actually a very complex decision-making process!  It involves a constant dialogue in your head, going through a million “what-if” scenarios and asking yourself numerous questions before you decide on a specific technique that will work most efficiently.  Over the past two field seasons and numerous forensic cases, I have learned how to navigate map-making in a way that makes sense to me personally.  This season, I will have to learn how to teach this to Sammi.  I think this will be difficult because creating a map is a fluid process – every scene is different and every cemetery we have been to in Texas has been different and has required a unique mapping process.  I think this concept, as well as the small nuances that go into mapping decision-making, will be the hardest to teach Sammi. I hope that I can teach her in a way that makes sense to her and that she can adapt to other mapping endeavors in the future!

Leann mapping in points.
Mapping – Starr Co 2017

I am so excited and grateful to be able to return to South Texas for the third time to aid in this amazing humanitarian mission!  I am filled with both excitement and nerves for all of the new things we will experience in Willacy Co.  Despite all of these “firsts,”  I am incredibly confident that our team will be able to accomplish everything we set out to and more.

See you soon, Texas.
–Leann