Communities and Collections

Date/Heure: 
Samedi, mai 18, 2019 - 9:00am - 12:00pm
(CST)
Room: 
Courville
Organizer(s): 
  • Lisa Hodgetts
Contact Email: 
lisa.hodgetts@uwo.ca
Présentations
09:10 AM: Collaborative endeavors and collections-based archaeology in southern Ontario
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Christopher Ball - University of Toronto

This paper discusses both the importance and challenges of conducting archaeological research with collections obtained from museums, cultural resource management firms, and academic excavations. Given the rate at which cultural resource management firms, in particular, have been able to excavate a wealth of new material, it is now more important than ever for researchers at all levels to ensure that collections of significant cultural importance are not allowed to sit idle until they are ultimately forgotten. Undertaking this kind of work, however, presents a number of challenges best overcome by a broad standardization of archaeological practices and collaborative effort on the part of researchers, excavators, and the institutions of which they are a part. With specific reference to the circumstances of my own research in southern Ontario, this paper will address the various idiosyncrasies of working with collections and records obtained from multiple sources and the possible avenues through which researchers at academic institutions, museums, and CRM firms alike may work together to make collections-based research a much more accessible endeavor.

09:40 AM: Finding Indigenous Children: The Brandon Indian Residential School Project
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Eldon Yellowhorn - Department of First Nations Studies, Simon Fraser University
  • Katherine  Nichols - Department of First Nations Studies, Simon Fraser University
  • Hugo  Cardoso - Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University
  • Dongya Yang - Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University
  • Elton Taylor - Sioux Valley Dakota Nation

Calls to Action 71–76 in the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission address the subjects of missing children, abandoned cemeteries and burial information associated with Indian residential schools. In collaboration with Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, researchers from Simon Fraser University and partner universities in Manitoba and Ontario will conduct a forensic investigation with the goal of identifying the children who died while attending the Brandon Residential School. This SSHRC-funded research project is the first of its kind in Canada. Its significant will be to add meaning to the Calls to Action and demonstrate the contributions that archaeology can make to achieving restorative justice for Indigenous people in Canada. Its objective is founded on aspirations to respectfully reclaim the identities of Indigenous children buried and to return their remains to their families and natal communities. Since the residential schools emanated from federal policies there are many such cemeteries across Canada. We urge our archaeological colleagues to respond to these Calls to Action and lend their expertise to the long term goal of investigating these places of conscience and provide lasting solutions.
10:30 AM: Visiting with my Relatives: Enacting wahkohtowin and kîhokewin through Métis archaeology
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Kisha Supernant - University of Alberta

Much previous research on the archaeology and history of the Métis in Canada has focused on mixedness, hybridity, and creolization as key defining feature of Métis culture and identity. When I embarked on developing the Exploring Métis Identity Through Archaeology (EMITA) project in 2012, I too framed the research questions around ethnogenesis and hybrid material culture. However, over the past few years, engaging with the material culture and landscapes of my ancestor alongside my deepening connections to living relatives, has shifted my thinking about my relationship to my Métis identity and to the artifacts used by my ancestors. In this paper, I outline the tenants of a Métis theoretical approach to understanding the archaeological record, grounded in two Cree concepts: wahkohtowin (interrelatedness) and kîhokewin (visiting). Drawing on examples from excavations of Métis wintering sites over the past 5 years, I discuss the implications of these concepts for how I excavate, analyse, interpret, and curate the belongings of my ancestors.

11:00 AM: #MeToo and More: Preliminary Results of the Equity & Diversity in Canadian Archaeology Survey
Format de présentation :
Auteur-e(s) :
  • Lisa Hodgetts - The University of Western Ontario
  • Kisha Supernant - University of Alberta
  • Natasha Lyons - Ursus Heritage Consulting
  • John Welch - Simon Fraser University

In this presentation we provide an update on the workings of the CAA Working Group on Equity and Diversity. A year ago, in Winnipeg, our group asked what the #MeToo movement means for Canadian archaeology. We are all well aware, based on anecdotal evidence and our own experiences in the discipline of archaeology, that a number of historical and ongoing inequities exist based on intersections of gender, age, ethnicity and other identity categories, which shape and are shaped by dynamics in field, institutional, and other professional contexts. Unequal power structures influence our hiring practices, pay, and training and working relationships. We are also aware of both subtle and egregious harassment and abuse behaviors, both sexual and otherwise, that have impacted the lives, experiences, and careers of both prospective and experienced Canadian archaeologists. Our working group spent the past year researching and crafting a survey instrument to capture data on the demographics, social dynamics, and experiences of Canadian archaeologists, the first survey of its kind at a national level in Canada. The survey, which was live from mid-February to the end of March 2019, had 569 respondents. We present the preliminary findings of the survey and map our actions moving forward in terms of developing and fostering policies and practices that create safer spaces for us to work, live, and thrive as a community of practice that embraces and celebrates our diversity as individuals.