Abstract

This paper will be examine archaeological discourse in Canada in order to consider how it has affected the discipline's relationship with First Nations. As many have shown, interactions between colonial state powers with original inhabitants of the land were and to a certain extent still are also shaped by images formed through popular discourse. Following Trigger (1980), I argue that the stereotyping of Indians has been the most important single factor shaping the development of archaeology in North America. In order to move towards a way of doing archaeology that is anti-colonial and cooperative, archaeologists must critically examine and take a certain amount of responsibility for archaeology's hand in constructing images of Aboriginal Peoples. By examining the development of archaeology in Canada, with careful consideration to the use of theory, these images may be recognized and explored. Through this historical examination, it will be demonstrated that Canadian archaeology has viewed Indians as subjects or objects but only recently as actors in the formulation and dissemination of their own histories.