The public is the general public that is to say the people that are not professionally working but volunteer. They have an interest in the public archaeology or the Hidalgo County Pauper Cemetery Project. As students, we are not part of the public but set apart. We are doing this work for several people those in the county, cemetery, community, families and for the deceased themselves.
Changing our conceptions or that of others on what a community is will change not only those that we work with but also the people that we are identifying. From what I understood some of the people were visiting and happen to die here which led them to be buried in the cemetery. Usually they would not be considered part of the community but now that they are dead and are buried among the people that were connected to the community the relationship changes. We as students may be considered outsiders as we do not have family members in the Hidalgo Pauper Cemetery however we are working for the community making us part of it if only for a moment. The are other communities that could get involved such as those that do the same type of work (recording the information on the graves) or those that have done similar work. On the other side, there could be others from the side of the families who could partake in the project.
The stakeholders for the Hidalgo County Pauper Cemetery Project is anyone that become involved like Hidalgo County, the cemetery workers, the University and its staff and students, the families of the dead and those that decide to join and contribute to the project.
There are several communities in the Valley and taking into consideration that defining what a community is can be somewhat obscure. There are several organizations within the community that specialized in helping promote awareness of topics such as these. There are also multiple people that are involved and are part of multiple communities as they intersect with various others.
The communities that include the cemetery and the individuals as members depends on which perspective one is looking from, if the person is including the HCPCP then the number of communities involved increases.
We are a part of the UTRGV community, part of the student community, although we may not be part of the other communities such as the general public or county related people.
The cemetery has a lot of history behind it but I would not be sure if there would be a need of cultural affiliation. What I mean by that is that is the cemetery has a lot of cultural influences that are plain as day but there are also a lot of thigs to consider when applying a cultural affiliation because we do not just want to assume and make a misinterpretation however is there is culture affiliation we show respect that. Culture is important and burial is usually always a big part of it which means that graves just as important.
There may be certain communities that we are forgetting or neglecting although this is not done with intentional purpose. There are communities that we are not aware of and taking into account that we are not part of all these communities involved there is a limit on the information and background we can accrue in order to involve more communities. Although the other communities that are already involved in the project may be able to close the gap and offer a clearer picture
There are several power dynamics involved that have gained interest in the cemetery like the county and the university who are the ones that made it possible to create the project in the first place.
