Format: In-Person
Author(s):

• Cecilia

  Crasto

  - University of Toronto
• Stephen

  Berquist

  - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

Irrigation canals are often understudied beyond questions of function, reflecting colonial narratives that privilege monumental architecture over everyday or ritualized infrastructure. In the Andes, however, these systems did far more than sustain agriculture in an arid environment; they materialized relationships among people, water, and sacred landscapes. The Cañoncillo Archaeological Complex in the Jequetepeque Valley on Peru’s north coast comprises multiple ceremonial centres connected by canal systems drawing from Cerro Cañoncillo, a prominent mountain peak that has structured settlement, ritual, and agricultural life from the Formative Period to the present. In Andean worldviews, such peaks are not passive landmarks but animate beings imbued with ancestral power. Canals linking the mountain to surrounding communities therefore functioned not only as infrastructure but as pathways embedded within a broader cosmological system. Maintained through episodic practices of ritual cleaning, repair, and offering, these systems were central to ongoing engagements with the landscape. Drawing on research from the Tecapa Archaeological Project, ethnographic examples from Indigenous Andean communities, and microfossil analysis to identify episodes of canal use and maintenance, this paper argues that irrigation systems can be understood as active cultural landscapes, sustained through reciprocal relationships and revealing enduring practices of stewardship.

 

Format: In-Person
Author(s):

• Katsi’tsahen:te

  Cross-Delisle

  - Mohawk Council of Kahnawake
• Kelly

  Marquis

  - Mohawk Council of Kahnawake

Archaeology is often framed as a neutral Scientific practice focused on data collection, standardized methodologies, and material analysis. Yet when working with Indigenous Ancestors, and their Belongings. Archaeology carries responsibilities that extends far beyond technical procedure. It requires respect, accountability, and an ethical relationship with the Earth, the Waters, and the communities whose histories are being studied. This presentation emphasizes the value of oral history, land-based knowledge, and Indigenous worldviews as legitimate and essential forms of data. These knowledge systems offer interpretive depth that cannot be accessed through material analysis or written accounts alone. By prioritizing Indigenous languages and epistemologies, Archaeological sites are understood not as static locations or “resources,” but as living relatives, places embedded with memory and spirit. Reminding us to maintain ongoing relationships. By bringing together rematriation, community-led interpretation, and Indigenous knowledge systems, this session calls for Archaeological practices rooted in responsibility rather than extraction. From Mother Earth to our hands, Archaeologists hold a profound obligation to ensure that what is unearthed is treated not as data alone, but as relations that must ultimately be returned to their people to be respectfully cared for and loved.

Format: In-Person
Author(s):

• Lindsay

  Amundsen-Meyer

  - University of Calgary
• Kent

  Ayoungman

  - Siksika Nation
• Jerry

  Potts

  - Piikani Nation

Archaeology in North America still occurs in a settler-colonial context. Knowing that the colonial moment has not passed, we reflect on and consider the complex interplay between archaeologists and Indigenous descendant communities today, as well as how these interactions both contribute to and can combat ongoing settler-colonialism. In particular, this paper explores concepts within landscape archaeology and discusses the need to step back from the level of the individual archaeological site to consider the entire cultural landscape in order to honor the ways of knowing of both Blackfoot ancestors and modern descendant communities. Using three case studies from the Blackfoot homeland of the Northwestern Plains, we demonstrate how viewing archaeological sites within their broader landscape context can identify intangible cultural heritage, foster cultural connection, and reclaim places for descendant communities, ultimately contributing to the process of reconciliation.

Format: In-Person
Author(s):

• Michael

  Turney

  - Lifeways of Canada Limited

With a distribution spanning much of the Great Plains, from north of Calgary Alberta to as far south as Utah and Colorado, the Shield Bearing Warrior (SBW) motif is one on the most geographical expansive rock art motifs in North America. Likewise, the SBW motif is one of the best-known elements of Northwestern Plains rock art traditions, present in both the Ceremonial and Biographic traditions of the Late Precontact Period. Utilizing a dataset of both previously reported and newly identified rock art sites from the northern limit of Northwestern Plains rock art distribution, the author attempts illustrate the numerous examples that are included under this wide-ranging classification, and thus provide a better definition for this cultural phenomenon. By an examination of a selection of these motifs, and by a deconstruction of the SBW images into their respective elements, the author hopes to provide evidence of cultural transmission and continuity over a vast geographic area and time depth.