John Ware was among Alberta’s first non-white settlers, following fortune and cattle herds north from Texas to Canada in 1882. He remained on the Alberta Prairies, eventually establishing his own ranch near Millarville where he and his family resided ca. 1888-1902. In 2025, a team from UCalgary conducted a four-week excavation of Ware’s Millarville homestead (EePo-29), which uncovered a well-dated layer of belongings associated with the Ware family and intact structural remains of their home. This presentation will cover a range of topics that touch on the historical presence of Black families on the prairies, the material culture of the everyday, and the role of women in historic ranching communities. Specifically, we examine how excavated belongings help us piece together the everyday life of the Ware family, which is not well-understood from historic record, including their place in Alberta’s ranching community as well as how Mildred Ware, an individual less well known than her husband John, may have adapted to life on the prairies.

A recent TMHC Inc. archaeological excavation of a highly significant freedom-seeker farm near Windsor, Ontario has created opportunities for rekindling public memory about the rural community’s Black roots tracing back to the settlement schemes of the Colored Industrial Society and Refugee Home Society. Despite a Black presence in Essex County since the mid-to-late 1700s and a general appreciation of Windsor’s borderland Underground Railroad history alongside its urban Black settlement centres, memory of the early Black farming community has been nearly erased.  In an area where multi-generational Scottish and Irish century farms are well-celebrated and archivally-documented, archaeologists rarely apply a Black lens to the identification of rural farmsteads and assignment of cultural heritage value. Early Black archaeological sites are eminently threatened as rural Windsor experiences rapid development stemming from the building of a new electric vehicle battery plant and hospital, alongside expansive supporting infrastructure. This paper discusses TMHC’s community-centric approach to rebuilding memory within the local and archaeological communities to both celebrate and protect Black heritage.

The Work Continues – Directions in African Nova Scotian Archaeology and Engagement

African Nova Scotian archaeology began its existence in Nova Scotia in the early 1990s. Much has taken place over the decades. To date, we have 63 sites in the provincial archaeology database as well as numerous noted landscapes and historic cemeteries. We have thankfully arrived at a place where consideration of the African Nova Scotian past is mainstream from a CRM project perspective and from an academic research perspective. Much has been examined in the field and archive and the material culture collection continues to grow. Even in government, there is an office specifically in place to address African Nova Scotian affairs, land claims, cultural heritage and social concerns. Today, when needed, there are people to call, museums to consult, funding mechanisms to access and community enthusiastic to participate. This is good news but for many, not enough news. Where are we headed? Where can we be most impactful and how can we challenge the remaining limited space for this story? This paper draws from a chapter nearing publication. Comments are invited and welcome.