Bridges Across Time: The NOGAP Archaeology Project

Occasional Paper No. 2 Cover

Bridges Across Time: The NOGAP Archaeology Project

Occasional Paper No. 2 • 1994

edited by Jean-Luc Pilon

Book Chapters

The Inuktuiut of Eskimo Lakes
David Morrison, Charles Arnold
Abstract
Recent archaeological excavations in the western Canadian Arctic have focussed on Inuvialuit (Mackenzie Inuit) sites in the Eskimo Lakes area, a long inland arm of the sea running southwest from Liverpool Bay almost to the Mackenzie River. Although written information on the area dating before 1900 is virtually nonexistent, archaeological and oral history data suggest the Eskimo Lakes played an important role in regional subsistence and exchange patterns over the past 500 years. The area seems to have been the home of a distinctive Inuvialuit group which disappeared sometime prior to the full historic period.
Abstract
Over a period of three field seasons, nine small pre-contact Inuvialuit sites, believed to be representative of the landuse in the interior of the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, were recorded and tested. The sites tend to be located near the outlet streams of headwater lakes with known fishery potential, and their distribution straddles the historic territories of the Kittigarymiut and the Nuvurugmiut. Artifacts and faunal remains indicate that fish and waterfowl were processed intensively from early spring to mid or late summer, but evidence for caribou hunting is minimal. This raises questions concerning pre-contact Inuvialuit social organization and specialization of resource exploitation. A procedure to resolve these questions is proposed.
Abstract
This paper is an overview of two interrelated projects, the Tuktoyaktuk Traditional Knowledge Project and the Heritage Resources Training Program. The objectives of the Traditional Knowledge Project were to first determine the location and nature of heritage sites important to the Inuvialuit so heritage managers can better assess the impacts of oil development on those resources, and secondly to learn about aspects of traditional life for use in archaeological interpretations. Traditional knowledge research allows people from communities to contribute directly to archaeological knowledge. The Heritage Resources Training Program served as a vehicle to develop and test training methods to provide people from communities with some of the basic skills and information needed to conduct this type of research.
Abstract
The results of recently conducted archaeological surveys in the lower Mackenzie Valley, N.W.T., demonstrate a greater archaeological potential than hitherto assumed. These data modify the widespread view according to which few archaeological sites along the immediate course of the river had actually escaped the ravages of the Mackenzie's spectacular spring floods. Archaeological sites were in fact found in a wide variety of locational contexts. Moreover, the quality of that record, when buried under overbank deposits, is superior to that usually found in the interior where soil development is negligible, and the soil chemistry not conducive to organic preservation. In short, the elements needed to write the prehistory of this zone are still accessible.
Abstract
In 1992, an intensive survey of the MiTi-1 locality recorded 87 concentrations of lithic artifacts exposed on remnant ground surfaces on bench and ridge areas on the west side of Thunder River valley at its confluence with the Mackenzie River Valley. Most of the 25 surface features excavated had lithic artifacts distributed in a collapsed burnt humic layer and the top of the underlying mineral soil. The excavated lithic assemblage includes 98 tools and 36 282 pieces of debitage. The artifact assemblage and hearth features suggest general occupation activities in addition to quarrying and artifact manufacture. The antiquity of the archaeological deposits is undetermined due to a lack of datable material.
Abstract
The Qugyuk site (ObRw-1) is a multi-component site located on the north shore of Harrowby Bay, Cape Bathurst Peninsula, N.W.T. The site has up to 60 cm of deposits, with evidence of prehistoric Inuit, Arctic Small Tool tradition, and Northwest Microblade tradition occupations. However, because of intensive cryoturbation, the earlier two occupations could only be separated on the basis of typology. Five radiocarbon dates on caribou bone suggest that the earlier two occupations dated to 2600-2050 BC and 3100-2600 BC respectively. The Northwest Microblade tradition component represents part of a larger, presumably seasonal occupation of the Arctic Coastal Plain by interior peoples, presumably to take advantage of caribou herds, muskox, and probably bison.
Appendix I: NOGAP Radiocarbon Dates
Compiled By Luc Nolin
Appendix II: NOGAP Bibliography
Compiled By Luc Nolin, Ken Swayze
Abstract
From 1989 to 1993 an oral history project was undertaken by the Inuvialuit Social Development Program. The main objective of the Herschel Island and Yukon North Slope Inuvialuit Oral History Project was to document Inuvialuit land use and knowledge of the Yukon North Slope. Inuvialuit oral history also provided important insights into archaeological issues. This paper questions archaeological assumptions regarding sod houses in the light of ethnographic information. In effect, the Inuvialuit elders explained that sod houses could be occupied year-round rather than solely in wintertime as often assumed by Arctic archaeologists. It is suggested that the use of sod houses in the summer depends on specific strategies of land use.
Abstract
The Washout site on Herschel Island, northern Yukon Territory, is one of only a few prehistoric Neoeskimo sites on the Yukon North Slope, and has yielded the earliest known Thule component in the greater Mackenzie Delta region. This report outlines NOGAP salvage excavation of two archaeological features at Washout, performed during the 1985 and 1986 field seasons. The first feature is a late prehistoric semi-subterranean house which yielded a diverse artifact sample and a faunal sample dominated by ringed seal bones. The second feature contained a small artifact sample and poorly defined structural remains which preclude conclusive interpretation. However, the faunal sample, which contains a preponderance of fish bones, may indicate a warm-season occupation. This new information contributes substantially to current understanding of prehistoric subsistence and settlement variability in the Mackenzie Delta region.
Gwichya Gwich'in Oral History Project
Ingrid Kritsch, Alestine Andre, Bart Kreps
Abstract
The Gwichya Gwich'in Oral History Project concentrated its efforts in gathering traditional knowledge place names, trail systems, and stories associated with both of these held by Gwichya Gwich'in Elders. This information was found to be rich in colour and texture, but rapidly fading with the passing of individual Elders. The data will be used in a number of ways to increase an awareness of and an appreciation for the cultural heritage of the Gwichya Gwich'in by archaeologists, anthropologists, local communities and the Gwich'in Tribal Council.
Abstract
The Qikiqtaruk Archaeology Project was initiated in 1990 as an exploration of Inuvialuit prehistory and history on Herschel Island, northern Yukon Territory. Herschel Island is important to the development of Inuvialuit society for two primary reasons: 1) for much of the past millennium, the island was a centre of Inuvialuit settlement, trade, and interaction with Euroamericans; and 2) several archaeological sites on Herschel Island are relatively large and well-preserved, while virtually all other coastal sites on the Yukon North Slope have been lost to erosion. During three field seasons, nine Inuvialuit structures were completely excavated, ranging in age from the late Thule period to the early twentieth century. This report presents a preliminary description of four Inuvialuit dwellings which represent four different periods of occupation. The architecture, traditional artifacts, and imported Euroamerican trade goods recovered from each context provide an illustration of the changing nature of Inuvialuit society on Herschel Island.
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of archaeological excavations that have been carried out by the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre at three localities on Richards Island, in the outer delta of the Mackenzie River. Further research that is planned to analyze the Richards Island archaeological data is discussed.
Abstract
A large quantity of well-preserved faunal material was excavated from a midden at the Mackenzie Delta site of Gupuk (NiTs-1), thought to have been the main village of the Siglit branch of the Mackenzie Inuit. The analysis of almost 38 000 non-cetacean bones and teeth recovered during the 1986 field season has revealed that Siglit subsistence was based on a wide variety of terrestrial, marine, riverine and lacustrine animals. Fish bones are very abundant, comprising over 67% of the of the assemblage; the most abundant fish are burbot, inconnu and whitefish. The diversity of fish sizes indicates use of a number of fishing techniques, with netting probably the most important. Caribou, moose, seal, waterfowl, ptarmigan and grouse, and several small game species, especially muskrat, also played important roles in subsistence.