Remembering Dr. Kenneth Ames

The first time I heard the name Dr. Kenneth Ames was during my undergraduate coursework at WSUV. I enrolled in an ethnoarchaeology class, led by Dr. Cameron Smith. During a routine office consultation regarding my final project for the semester, we got on the subject of social organization. Noting my interest in how large communities organize themselves, Dr. Smith offered to connect me with his own advisor, and fellow PSU faculty member, Ken Ames. I declined, not seeing how my research interests in Mesoamerica overlapped or connected with Dr. Ames expertise in Pacific Northwest social organization. This decision was right for me at the time, but with 20/20 hindsight, I wish I had taken the opportunity to meet Dr. Ames sooner.

The first time I actually met Dr. Ames was in my first year of graduate school. By this time, I had long since left Mayan studies to fully throw myself into the ethnobotany of the Pacific Northwest and the archaeology of complex-foragers and Dr. Ames’ name was everywhere. The sheer volume of work he produced, the high regard my peers and anthropology department faculty had for him, and just his general status as the godfather of Pacific Northwest archaeology, made him seem larger than life. When he came to Pullman on a visit there was a notable air of excitement in the department.

To say he made an impression is an understatement.

For those of you who never had the privilege meeting him, I will try to give you a sense of his presence. Ken was a great man in both height and build. His frame filled an entire doorway when entering a room, but he was also great in his sheer presence and his deep commanding voice. He spoke with the comfort and authority of a man who knew his discipline well and carried a depth of intimacy with his subject born from decades of work.

Oddly though, what my peers remembered most about him was his kindness, and ability to carry a conversation so much farther than the intended topic. When I reached out to friends and professionals after learning the news of his passing, one theme remained consistent in all of our recollections. Students and colleagues who approached him with questions could easily end up conversing for hours on a myriad of topics. His openness made speaking with Ken a pleasure, his enthusiasm and curiosity were contagious and you always ended up learning more than you even realized by the end of every interaction. He often answered a question with another question, always propelling not only the conversation forward, but ideas behind the thoughts behind the question as well.

I make no claims to closeness of a relationship; however, through my work with the Cathlapotle Plankhouse, I was able to develop a warmer and more personal relationship with Dr. Ames. This is when he transformed from Dr. Ames “rock star archaeologist” to Ken, a mentor, and more importantly, a friend. He never once treated me as if I were a grad school dropout, despite the fact that I had to recuse myself from my studies, and always spoke to me as a competent person and capable student. A relationship that had that started years ago, rooted in academics, became a friendship that included hugs and laughter, especially when his visits to the House included his wife, Jane. They both supported me in my role with the Friends here at the Refuge, helping me find my place in the intersecting communities surrounding the Plankhouse. And Ken always made himself available to my many, many questions.

To say that Dr. Kenneth Ames’ legacy influences the work we do on the Refuge is no small thing. His work is the basis for much of the programming and knowledge we utilize every day in the Plankhouse and in our Environmental & Cultural Education offerings and our Lifeways & Landscapes Programs. His books and articles fill my office and inform the training that our volunteers receive. As many know his work was pivotal in the anthropology community reassessing the archaeology of indigenous peoples across the Pacific Northwest. His arguments for deeply nuanced socio-political systems, sophisticated landscape management, and population density brought new discussions and research into a field that had greatly underestimated the varied richness and cultural complexity of the many Nations that occupied this landscape prior to colonial encroachment. The resultant research from the Cathlapotle and Meier sites, on and just outside of the Refuge, speak to his academic legacy.

Almost two decades ago, I took an undergrad ethnoarchaeology class and experimented with paint making, never knowing where it would lead. That final research project with Dr. Cameron Smith was reconstructing charcoal and salmon roe based paint based on indigenous technologies of the Pacific Northwest. Something that almost connected me directly to Dr. Ames years ago now connects me to his work in a much different, tactile way. Now, that very same study of binders and pigments is the basis of one of our Refuge in the Classroom activities I have the pleasure of sharing with school kids every year.

When reflecting on the passing of a person of great note, it is easy to focus on the things we wish would have taken place. It is strange to be closing this piece on remembering Dr. Ames as I head down to prepare the Plankhouse for our annual spring gathering of volunteers, FWS and Friends staff, and community partners – an event at which I hoped to catch up with Ken and Jane. I feel extraordinarily grateful to have had the brief opportunity to develop a relationship with Ken that extends into the cultural landscape I serve every day. For me at least, the House will feel a bit different this afternoon without his presence.

-Juliet McGraw, Friends of RNWR Community & Cultural Education Director

Photo: Center for Columbia River History