Weathered remains: Bioarchaeology, identity, and the landscape

Abstract

This article explores the making of identity for two sets of human skeletal remains, labeled 1928 Hurricane Victims 1 and 2 Belle Glade. The remains are so poorly preserved that traditional bioarchaeological analysis to explore their perimortem identity is not possible. However, an exploration of their postmortem identity allows us to examine the relationship between landscape, soil, memory, and bodies in bioarchaeology. This article challenges us to consider how bioarchaeology “makes” identity. It does so against the backdrop of one of the worst natural history disasters in United States history, the 1928 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane in Belle Glade, Florida. The loss of some 2,000 to 3,000 individuals in one night, primarily Black migrant farm laborers, is little remembered in national history, but it profoundly shaped the region, and contributes to an ongoing creation of a category of skeletal remains found in the area even today and labeled hurricane victims.