Black–Racialized–Indigenous Archaeologists: Colonially bounded Practice

Session Hosting Format: 
in-person session
Organizer(s): 
  • Uju Rita Onah, The University of British Columbia
  • Neha Gupta, The University of British Columbia
Contact Email: 
Session Description (300 word max): 

Global Indigenous Peoples’ story is a shared history of peoples who not only survived but thrived in spite of the persistent structures of colonialism. This session explores the question of who tells an Indigenous story, and its relationship to ownership of, and authority in, archaeology. In Canadian archaeology, there is currently limited social and intellectual space for the identities, perspectives and knowledges of diaspora people with Indigenous origins as well as descendant communities. The framing of indigeneity as fixed, unchanging groups that a national government recognizes as Indigenous typically overrides, obscures and diminishes the ways that Indigenous Peoples see themselves and how they relate with other communities. In practice, these racisms are intertwined with colonialism and administrative and legal control over identity, making Indigenous Peoples invisible when they are “dislocated” from their place of origin, disconnecting them from cultural communities. Yet, diaspora communities can provide insights into the experience of colonization in Canada because globally, Indigenous Peoples and descendant communities were colonized with similar goals, similar strategies, and outcomes. This session invites papers focusing on knowledges of Indigenous Peoples and descendant communities in the transnational practice of archaeology. We especially welcome scholars who challenge colonial agendas and destabilize dominant understandings of indigeneity in Canada and beyond.