Papers in Honour of Dr. Brian (Barney) Reeves

Session Hosting Format:

in-person session

Organizer(s):

Dr, Alison Landals, Stantec
Dr. Margaret Kennedy

Contact Email:

Session Description (300 word max):

Even though it has been three years since Brian (Barney) Reeves died in August of 2023, it is a testament to his profound impact on the field of archaeology and more importantly on his former students, colleagues and friends that we gather in Canmore to remember and celebrate his impressive legacy. The papers to be presented at this session reflect Barney’s influences and foundational ideas in archaeology - his major contributions to Plains/Mountain culture history and classification through his pioneering recording programs in Waterton National Park and the Crowsnest Pass, his deep interest in northern plains ethnography, ethnobotany, communal bison hunting (Head-Smashed-In), archaeoastronomy and ceremonial landscapes, all of which was enhanced by his decades-long and close friendship with a number of Piikani elders. Also to be considered was his amazingly wide first-hand familiarity with the archaeological literature and artifact collections inside and outside of the plains and his impressive ability to synthesize vast quantities of information into comprehensive models of culture history. He brought an insatiable curiousity and dedication to the research he took on and profoundly influenced many of us throughout our careers. The papers to be given in this session honour his memory and personality, his ongoing academic legacy and highlight the large number and variety of contributions he made to archaeology.

Présentations

APPLYING THE CONCEPT OF “CEREMONIAL LANDSCAPES” IN NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANA

Format de présentation : In-Person

Auteur-e(s) :

Patrick Rennie - Montana DNRC (State of Montana)

An opportunity arose in north-central Montana to apply and test Reeves and Kennedy’s (2017) concept of “Ceremonial Landscapes”. Firstly, this opportunity resulted from two different types of medicine wheels being situated within two distinct 2,500-acre blocks of State land. Secondly, the opportunity arose because the State of Montana began purchasing drones for a variety of field applications in 2018. Drone photography and advances in GIS technology allow efficient and accurate documentation of large-scale areas that contain hundreds of stone features. The two subject Montana Ceremonial Landscapes are 70 miles/113 km apart and approximately 180 miles/290 km from the general area investigated by Reeves and Kennedy (2017) in southeastern Alberta/southwestern Saskatchewan. A seven-year study of the two Montana localities demonstrates many similarities with the Reeves and Kennedy (2017) study, thereby validating the importance of inventorying large scale areas around medicine wheels and documenting ancillary features.

Reference Cited:

Reeves, Brain O.K., and Margaret A. Kennedy

2017 Stone Feature Types at Ceremonial Site Complexes on the Lower Red Deer and the

Forks of the Red Deer and South Saskatchewan Rivers with Ethnohistorical Discussion. Archaeology in Montana 58(1):1-44.

The Right Ways – Lifeways’ 54 Years (and counting) in Consulting Archaeology

Format de présentation : In-Person

Auteur-e(s) :

Brian Vivian - Lifeways of Canada Limited, Calgary, Canada
Claire Bourges - Lifeways of Canada Limited

In partnership with two other colleagues, Barney Reeves founded Lifeways of Canada in 1972. Lifeways was the frist Historical Resource Consulting firm in Western Canada. Over its fifty-four years of operation, Lifeways has remained steadfast in undertaking Historical Resource Assessments, implementing major surveys, and completing large-scale excavations that have contributed significantly to the archaeology of the regions the company has worked in. In this paper we focus on Barney Reeves, examine the directions he set for Lifeways, and review the impact Barney's tutelage has had on the development of consulting archaeology in Western Canada.

03:20 PM: Ascribing ethnicity to ceremonial stone feature landscapes: Reeves’ Old Women’s and Avonlea phase definitions, and the many potential homelands of the Gros Ventre/White Clay People

Format de présentation : In-Person

Auteur-e(s) :

Alison Landals - Stantec Consulting Ltd.

Brian Reeves’ 1970 definition of the Old Women’s phase did not ascribe it to any ethnic affiliation, following the strict, established convention of those times. However, by placing it within his “Napikwan” tradition, it was clear that he conceived the Phase as ancestral to Algonkian speaking peoples. When his dissertation was eventually published in 1983, he clarified that he saw the Phase as ancestral to both the Blackfoot and Gros Ventre people. Over the succeeding decades multiple researchers have focused on more fully describing Old Women’s material culture and phase indicators, its temporal/geographic extent and especially its ethnic affiliation; the sheer strength of the correlation of this phase with the ancestral Blackfoot went from “daring” to “dogma” in a generation. At the same time, any place for the Gros Ventre within the Old Women’s phase has dwindled into irrelevance and invisibility. This paper will consider reasons for this situation and Reeves’ more recent attempt to ascribe Gros Ventre affiliation to stone features within the Forks ceremonial landscape. Alternate phase associations for the Gros Ventre are also considered.