Community-oriented archaeology is becoming increasingly common within North America, including the Canadian Arctic, although it is still far from the norm. As part of the Inuvialuit Living History Project (ILH), Goodwin’s doctoral research has interrogated the complexities in Inuvialuit gender identity and performance, past and present. In partnership with Inuvialuit Elders, her research attempts to centre the voices of descendant community members in interpretations of the archaeological record. Through a series of semi-structured interviews and archaeological ethnographic processes Goodwin and the Inuvialuit Elders attempt to answer the question of what it means to be an Inuvialuit man, woman or other gendered individual both now and far into the past. In this paper we will describe the process of Goodwin’s PhD from inception through to dissemination back to the wider Inuvialuit community. We will focus in particular on the successes and difficulties in building a meaningful, community-oriented research project under the limitations of a doctoral program. In addition, this paper will discuss how centering the voices of community Knowledge Holders can reveal important insights into complex questions of identity. The privileging of Elders voices within the archaeology of the Inuvialuit and their ancestors can help us work towards decolonizing archaeological practice.

The primary perceived driver of engaged practice in archaeology has traditionally been academia, however a big part of the future progression of engaged practice now resides in non-academic sectors including commercial heritage practice and in Descendant communities themselves. Emerging scholars and graduate students are increasingly familiar with commercial archaeology with many participating in the practice before, during and, for most, after their studies. Whether through their own initiatives or in collaboration with existing companies with similar philosophies, the participatory discourse taught in academia is increasingly resonating in commercial heritage domains. Commercial space also offers new avenues for innovation and an increased emphasis on meaningful and accessible work products and service outcomes. Indigenous and other Descendant communities are also increasingly exercising their own agency in heritage management domains. This paper explores this expanding environment and profiles some of the engaged practice innovations commercial heritage practitioners and community stewards are developing.

Many Indigenous communities are mobilizing to document and share their traditional knowledge and cultural heritage.  The pervasiveness of the internet, social media, and other mobile technologies have created new opportunities for Indigenous communities, archaeologists, heritage groups, and technologists to collaborate with and together on digital strategies and tools to address these objectives.  Every Indigenous community has a unique history and world view, so the use of these digital approaches must be tailored to the needs of each case. 

The Inuvialuit Living History project is a community archaeology project that brings together Inuvialuit knowledge holders, archaeologists, and other heritage specialists to create, document, and disseminate Inuvialuit traditional knowledge and cultural heritage in the digital realm.  The Inuvialuit are the Inuit of the Western Arctic and their traditional knowledge is practiced through land-based activities such as hunting, fishing and berry picking.   The spatial nature of these activities has good potential to be represented in an interactive Google Earth map in a way that uniquely aligns with Inuvialuit epistemology and worldviews.   By incorporating photographs, videos and other digital representations of personalized stories and artifacts into specific traditional places on Google Earth, map users have the opportunity to virtually “experience” traditional knowledge in a geographically specific and highly contextualized way. This paper discusses the effectiveness, benefits, challenges, and implications of using a Google Earth map in this way for the documentation and intergenerational sharing of Inuvialuit traditional knowledge, archaeological history, and cultural heritage.