From Capture to Care: Digital Heritage in Western Canada

Session Hosting Format: 
in-person session
Organizer(s): 
  • Peter Dawson, Christina Robinson, Madisen Hvidberg, Mavis Chan
Contact Email: 
pcdawson@ucalgary.ca
Session Description (300 word max): 

Across Western Canada, many culturally significant places—historic buildings, Indigenous heritage landscapes, industrial sites, and community-valued structures—are increasingly threatened by wildfire, flooding, climate instability, development pressures, and long-term neglect. Although many of these places remain undocumented or undesignated, they hold deep meaning for the communities and Nations connected to them. The Alberta Digital Heritage Archive (ADHA) was established in 2017 with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop a scalable, community-informed model for digital preservation across the region. Using terrestrial LiDAR, aerial photogrammetry, and other reality-capture tools, the ADHA curates high-resolution 3D datasets that support reconstruction, monitoring, and teaching applications. The ADHA is part of a rapidly expanding ecosystem of digital heritage work occurring throughout Western Canada.

This session invites contributions from British Columbia, Yukon, NWT and the Prairie Provinces that explore how digital technologies are being used across Western Canada to document, protect, and revitalize heritage resources. We welcome papers on LiDAR, photogrammetry, 3D modelling, remote sensing, VR/AR, database design, and related methods, with attention to community partnerships, Indigenous data governance (FAIR/CARE), methodological innovation, and the role of digital documentation in addressing growing heritage vulnerability.

Presentations
Ghosts of the Grain Trade: Digitally Preserving Prairie Elevators ( Madisen Hvidberg )
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Madisen Hvidberg - University of Calgary
  • Zoe Cascadden-Jassal - University of Calgary
  • Peter Dawson - University of Calgary

Wooden grain elevators once dominated the skylines of prairie towns and were central to the agricultural expansion of Western Canada in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At their peak, more than 5,700 elevators stood across the Canadian plains, often lining railway corridors in small agricultural communities. Beyond their economic role, these structures became enduring landmarks that shaped the visual and cultural identity of the prairie landscape. Today, however, fewer than a hundred historic grain elevators remain, as many have been lost to development, structural deterioration, maintenance costs, and natural hazards.

This paper examines the use of digital heritage documentation to record these rapidly disappearing structures. Drawing on recent projects documenting the Markinch, Ogilvie, and Nanton grain elevators in Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, we present case studies that employ terrestrial LiDAR scanning and photogrammetric recording to produce high-resolution three-dimensional datasets. These projects were undertaken in collaboration with local communities interested in preserving detailed records of historically significant buildings that may not survive long-term.

By reflecting on field methods, data integration, and practical challenges associated with recording large wooden industrial buildings, this paper highlights the role of digital documentation in preserving vulnerable heritage resources and supporting future research, interpretation, and education.
Midden Volume, Harvested Fish Biomass, and Pre-contact Minimum Population Estimates for Nuu-chah-nulth Territories in Barkley Sound, British Columbia ( Robert Gustas )
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Robert Gustas - Archaeological Survey of Alberta

Coastal shell midden deposits are a quintessential element of the archaeological record on the Pacific Northwest Coast recording thousands of years of daily life. Here I present new research which contributes to understandings of pre-contact Indigenous demographics and marine resource use in Nuu-chah-nulth Territories in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, Canada. This research combines spatial analysis, zooarchaeology, and human metabolic requirements to estimate the volume of midden sites, the harvested fish that they contain, and the minimum local human population that could have been supported from these fish. These archaeologically derived estimates of population and biomass are grounded in a computationally conservative inductive theoretical framework which draws on archaeological data and minimizes the use of analogy and historical comparison. I show that known Barkley Sound shell midden sites comprise over 100,000 m3 of sediment representing the harvesting of over 1,000,000,000 fish by Indigenous fishers. The calories derived from these fish would be sufficient to support a population of nearly 1,000 individuals per day over the last three millennia. This research offers a framework for creating volume, biomass, and ultimately population estimates in other coastal sites globally and has important implications for governance and natural resource policy in Indigenous communities.  
Never Quite Set in Stone: Digital Reconstruction and Physicalization of Pictographs for Knowledge Mobilization ( Mavis Chan )
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Mavis Chan - University of Calgary
  • Peter Dawson - University of Calgary

My research explores the application of filament painting, a 3D printing technique, in reconstructing Indigenous pictographs in Alberta, Canada. Pictographs, ochre paintings on rock surfaces, are under increasing threat. Over time, exposure to natural elements has contributed to the fading of many pictographs across Alberta, with human activity also posing a considerable risk. As the pictographs become increasingly difficult to see, sharing their meaning and the urgency of their preservation with the public has become increasingly important—and increasingly challenging. Without clear representation, raising awareness and developing public engagement in preservation efforts remains a major challenge. I successfully conducted photography-based reconstruction and generated 3D models and prints of some of Alberta’s pictographs at risk. It demonstrates the potential of digital preservation methods to communicate the urgency of rock art loss to broader audiences. It creates a practical tool for raising public consciousness about the ongoing loss of rock art heritage while simultaneously creating a tangible record for future generations. My findings suggest that the effectiveness of these reconstructions is not based on exact replication, but rather on their capacity to transform abstract concerns about cultural heritage loss into a tangible, lived understanding that inspires preservation action.
The Big Rock (Okotoks Erratic) Digital Conservation Management Plan ( Christina Robinson )
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Christina Robinson - Historic Resources Management Branch, Government of Alberta
  • Peter Dawson - Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary
  • Meg Berry - Seed Cultural and Environmental Heritage Ltd
  • Mavis Chan - Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary
  • Elisa Rubalcava - Historic Resources Management Branch, Government of Alberta

The Okotoks Erratic, a Provincial Historic Resource of Alberta, is an interpretive site open to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The erratic is the largest erratic in the Foothills Erratic Train and is culturally significant to the Blackfoot with multiple ochre pictographs. The conservation management plan at the erratic has evolved since its designation in 1978, and technological advancements in digital heritage have played a vital role. The Government of Alberta’s Historic Resources Management Branch has employed a variety of digital capture techniques, from digital photography to 3D laser scanning, to address a variety of issues and concerns at the erratic as part of an evolving conservation management plan. This presentation will outline the digital data capture technologies and methodologies employed at the erratic, the role of each of the technologies, and the future plans for the digital heritage conservation management plan at the Okotoks Erratic.