New Faculty Spotlight: Yoli Ngandali

Photo courtesy of Yoli Ngandali

*Conflict of interest disclosure: the writer of this article is advised by Ngandali

New to campus this semester is Yoli Ngandali, a visiting Assistant Professor in Anthropology who specializes in North American Indigenous studies. 

Ngandali is a member of the Ngbaka tribe from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2014 with a B.S. in Archaeological Studies. She then went on to receive a Master’s degree in Anthropology at the University of Washington in 2017, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Archaeology at the University of Washington.

Her journey to anthropology was not a typical one, as she started off her career as a “video and animation nerd,” but quickly realized that her heart was not in it. Explaining this, she says, “I was in a rut, and my brother said, ‘Hey, Yoli, you should take this scuba diving class through my school.’ And I said, ‘I’ve never scuba-dived. I am a strong swimmer, but I’ve never tried anything like that.’ And so, I said, ‘Hey, why not’ I applied for a few scuba diving classes and made my way up Lakota territory in Minnesota.” From there, she went scuba diving for the first time in lakes and channels, and noticed that there were many different types of machinery beneath the water. After observing a downed sailboat in the depths of the water, something in her mind clicked. “I thought, wow. What are all the different stories that are happening down here? Who are all of the people who are connected to artifacts and history down here? I was fascinated by material culture and the stories behind the objects and lands we interact with.”

From there, she took archaeology classes and decided to major in archaeology at the University of Wisconsin, learning more about Indigenous archaeology and more about her own identity as an Indigenous African. “I went into archaeology to connect with the history of the land

I am on and my own family history and stories. Everything that we know about Indigenous people has been created without us, and so by having the power to retell our stories with the protocol that’s necessary to give life to these different knowledges is healing. I went to grad school to better understand the ways in which we can tell our stories.” 

Following this, she went straight to graduate school at the University of Washington and is currently in the final stages of writing her dissertation, anticipating graduating soon. In speaking about her dissertation, Ngandali explained that her dissertation “challenges traditional approaches to Indigenous ‘art’.”

“Archaeologists often focus solely on style; however, I integrate the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s generations of lived knowledge into the study and curation of Columbia River material culture,” she explained. At Grand Ronde, non-destructive archaeological and digital approaches are utilized in order to, according to Ngandali, “reclaim and reinterpret Indigenous knowledges from belongings held in museum collections across Oregon and Washington.” 

Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology Field school group photo during a native plant identification walk 

Photo courtesy of Yoli Ngandali

Explaining her own role at Grand Ronde, Ngandali said that she “conducts material analyses on rock art and stone belongings using digital imaging techniques such as Multi-spectral Imaging, Reflective Transformation Imaging, Photogrammetry, and 3D printing.” This work prioritizes human and nonhuman relationalities of people, practices, and places important to the Grand Ronde community. In doing this, the work contributes to the transformation of archaeology and anthropology from an extractive endeavor to one that is engaged, reciprocal, and recognizes tribal sovereignty in all aspects, with outcomes expanding the context-sensitive care for Grand Ronde heritage and material culture, developing strategies to reclaim and reinterpret this knowledge into a living context, and bringing ancestral knowledge gained from the museum collections into continued practice as new creative endeavors.

While Ngandali is just a visiting professor at the moment she plans to stay at Reed for as long as possible, and would be thrilled to join the faculty as a tenure-track professor. You can listen to her speak about Indigenous archaeology as a cohost on the SAPIENS podcast here, and keep an eye out for more of her work in the future!