amount of archaeology until termination of the program in 1969 (Fowler 1986).

The society’s involvement in the federal legislation process began in 1956 when the Highway Archaeology Salvage Committee, chaired by Fred Wendorf, organized successful support for the inclusion of archaeology in the 1956 Highway Act. By the late 1960s, the society had become increasingly involved in historic preservation legislation and in fighting the illegal trafficking in foreign antiquities. Some members of the society, however, felt that enough action was not being taken, and in 1974, the American Society for Conservation Archaeology was formed to focus specifically upon resource preservation issues.

A particularly active subunit of the society is the Committee for the Public Understanding of Archaeology (later the Committee on Public Archaeology, COPA). Initially formed in 1967 to promote communication with the public, it evolved into the society’s major body for communicating information on proposed federal legislation, trafficking in antiquities, and other issues through a network of state representatives.

When the Antiquity Act of 1906 failed to stand up in court in the late 1970s, some members of the society began to explore remedies. Frustrated by the Department of Interior’s foot-dragging in getting new legislation introduced, they convinced the society to draft the legislation itself and to lobby the bill through Congress without the assistance of government departments. The process was successful and resulted in the powerful Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (Collins and Michel 1985).

The assistance of a professional lobbyist was critical in the legislation process regarding that act, and as the society had become the primary organization lobbying for archaeology in Washington by 1983, a lobbyist was retained to represent the society on a continuing basis. Of major significance at that time was proposed legislation regarding Native American human remains.

Although the first president of the society, Arthur C. Parker, was of part Native American descent, there have been few professional Native American archaeologists, and the society at first had little explicit concern for Native American interests. As a result of increased political activism, a deteriorating relationship between Native Americans and archaeologists was noted in the mid-1970s. The society initiated a dialogue with Native Americans to counteract this trend, and in 1985, the SAA cosponsored a conference on reburial that brought together Native Americans, archaeologists, and physical anthropologists. Although this conference revealed major differences between the groups represented, it also assisted in the process of finding common ground among them. When the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed by Congress in 1990, it had the support of both Native Americans and the SAA, which had worked closely with congressional committees on the wording of the bill and with government agencies on implementing it.

Closely related to the increased archaeological activism and employment outside academia was a concern with archaeological standards and ethics. As early as 1953, a subcommittee of the society was appointed to examine the question of professional qualifications. It came back with a rating scale of archaeological competence that was circulated to members but never officially adopted because of various objections. In 1961, another committee published “Four Statements for Archaeology” (American Antiquity 27: 2) that proposed basic professional standards, ethics, and qualifications. At the 1973 annual meeting, the idea of certification of archaeologists was raised, and in the following year, a committee was appointed to investigate the suggestion. The committee recommended a national register of professional archaeologists, and the recommendation was approved by a referendum of members. Because of problems of implementing the registry within the society, the committee made the controversial move to form a separate Society of Professional Archaeologists to maintain a registry of archaeologists.

SAA president and public archaeology advocate Charles R. McGimsey II proposed in 1974 a series of seminars on the future direction of archaeology. Funded by the National Park Service, the Airlie House seminars covered archaeology and the law, cultural resource management,