Hello, Bonjour, Kweˈ
Fall is well underway, and the CAA Board has been busy. We have news to share.
We are excited to host the membership and delegates at the 58th Annual Meeting in Canmore, Alberta this spring (May 6–10)! Joanne Braaten and Brian Vivian along with their team are busy finalizing details for a joint conference between the CAA and the Archaeological Society of Alberta. Please visit the CAA website for announcements. The Call for Sessions has recently been posted https://canadianarchaeology.com/caa/annual-meeting/call-for-sessions. Thank you, Joanne, Brian and team. The best of luck as the planning continues.
We are equally excited to share that the 2027 Annual Meeting will be hosted in Prince Edward Island! This is the first time the CAA conference will be in PEI. Climate change, sea level rise and archaeology is the theme, and the Island landscape is exceptional to explore the subject. We will learn more from Conference Chair Christian Thériault following the Canmore gathering.
Continuing with conference news, Board members are working to update the conference manual and develop the one-pager of top to-dos for conference hosts and conference planning. This is in response to the conference survey response from members last spring.
In October, the President and Vice-president attended the National Trust for Canada Conference in Halifax and participated in the National Council of Heritage Organizations meeting. A focus of discussion was the new National Council Statement of Significance of Heritage in Canada Now (Halifax Declaration). The CAA signed the document supporting the six statements within including recognizing heritage as a foundational pillar of Canadian identity and community resilience.
Website redesign continues and we can report that CAA Webmaster, Cheryl Takahashi, is aiming to present mock-ups of the new website design at the Fall Board meeting. If the new design is approved without major changes, the upgraded site should be launched early in the new year. We are still looking for images of your fieldwork and events for the new website. Please send them with captions and attributions to webmaster@canadianarchaeology.com
A component of the website will be a new CAA resource. To help membership during these uncertain times, we have made a list of Canadian suppliers that offer a wide range of field equipment, clothing, PPE, survey equipment, and a whole lot more to meet your archaeological needs (and wish lists!). The list currently contains 70 suppliers that ship nationwide. The list is categorized to help filter to your needs but you may find some cool kit by perusing the website links. We expect this list to grow as more suppliers are found or suggested by the membership. Thanks to V-P Becki Dunham for leading this project.
Let’s talk CAA Awards. If you look at the website under the “About the CAA” tab, you will see the Awards tab. There are six awards and two scholarships listed. Under the CAA Indigenous Scholarship and Equity and Diversity Scholarships, in particular, the CAA aims to award at least two Indigenous Scholarships and three Equity and Diversity Scholarships every year, and to increase the value of the awards over time. In 2025, only one award was granted. Please take the time to review the list of offerings. Contact the Board if you want to submit a candidate for an award or scholarship. We can encourage archaeological work through these distinctions. We have support and recognition to share.
Regarding the CJA, Editor, Helen Dunlop reports a change to the Editorial Team. Marie-Claude Rochon stepped away from the French Copy Editor position and has been replaced by Anne-Hélène Kerbiriou, the CAA's long-time translator. Helen apologizes to the authors and to the membership for the delay in publication. Volume 47(2) was published earlier this year. Most of 48(1) is posted on Online First and is expected to be published soon. The CJA Author Guidelines are currently being reviewed and updated. It is important that authors follow the CJA Author Guidelines and the 2023 SAA Style Guide (American Antiquity) when submitting articles. Following these guides speeds up the editing process. Merci beaucoup, Marie-Claude for your service to the CJA.
Most recently, the Board supported a new statement developed by the CAA Working Group on Unmarked Graves. Titled, Statement on the Lack of Funding in Federal Budget 2025 for Investigations into Missing Children and Unmarked Burials, we continue to support this important work and appreciate the direction from CAA WGUG Chair, Kisha Supernant. Watch the website for the posting soon.
Finally, we have positions on CAA Committees that are open. We encourage members to reach out to the Board. We are seeking a Chair for the Awards Committee and a Chair for the Membership Committee. Keep in mind that all committee chairs are interested in hearing from the membership. Check out the committees and their current objectives on the website.
Best regards as the field season winds down—somewhat—and the colder weather settles in.
Katie Cottreau-Robins, PhD
president@canadianarchaeology.com