North American Ethnology

Dr. Peter Whiteley is Curator of North American Ethnology in the Division of Anthropology here at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Whiteley studies cultures, languages, social systems, and histories, principally in Native North America. He holds a M.A. in Archaeology and Anthropology from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Whiteley's research combines field ethnography and archives: he has conducted three years' fieldwork with the Hopi in northern Arizona, beginning in 1980, and archival research across North America and Europe. Other research focuses on Haudenosaunee in New York and Canada, Hupa in northwestern California, the New Mexico Pueblos, and Coast Salish in Washington State. He has published several volumes and numerous articles, especially on the Hopi. He works directly on behalf of Native American communities also, notably regarding land and other resource rights. His research also includes cross-cultural analysis, in particular with colleague Dr. Ward Wheeler (Curator of Invertebrate Zoology, AMNH), focusing on historical relationships and evolution of languages, cultures, and human populations (to date, Uto-Aztecan and Bantu).