NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: anthropology, traditional knowledge, archaeology, history, Inuvialuit

Objective(s): To document traditional knowledge of Banks Island; and to identify similarities and differences between Inuvialuit and archaeological values, priorities and understandings in order to develop culturally appropriate questions about Banks Island’s past that can be addressed through future archaeological research.

Project Description: The primary objectives of this research are to: 1) begin documenting traditional knowledge of Banks Island that could contribute to our understanding of life on the island in the past; 2) identify similarities and differences between Inuvialuit and archaeological values, priorities and understandings of the past; 3) work with Sachs Harbour community members to develop culturally appropriate questions about Banks Island’s past that can be addressed through future archaeological research; 4) determine which time periods and locales are of most interest to community members so that future archaeological research can be directed to these areas; 5) determine how community members would like to be involved in future archaeological work on the island and 6) determine what kinds of research products would be most useful to community members (e.g. website, displays, posters, artifact replicas, instructional materials for schools, information packages for tourists etc). The principal investigator will conduct semi-structured interviews with community members including Elders and other interested individuals. There are two goals to these interviews. First, the principal investigator will be using topographic maps to record traditional land use (TLU) information. The participants will be asked to indicate the locations of hunting and fishing sites that they or their ancestors used. The participants will also be asked about their knowledge of animal movements and if they have come across any archaeological remains during their time on the land. The TLU information will help determine areas that could potentially contain archaeological sites, and could be incorporated into the project website. Second, participants will be asked about their views of past archaeological research, their opinions on current heritage management procedures and their goals for future research. These interviews will help determine: 1) culturally appropriate research questions to be addressed through future archaeological work; 2) where to focus future archaeological research 3) how community members would like to be involved in the research and 4) what products they would like to come out of the research. With permission from participants, the interviews will be audio recorded. Although the majority of community members are fluent in English, some Elders are more comfortable speaking Inuvialuktun, and the principal investigator will work with a translator while interviewing them. Towards the end of the field season, the research team will host a workshop in Sachs Harbour where they will invite representatives from the Community Corporation, the Hunters and Trappers Committee, Elders and other interested individuals to help them finalize a series of archaeological research questions and identify key sites that will become the focus of future archaeological research, as well as determine how community members will participate in this research and how best to provide the resulting information to the community. The traditional knowledge research is part of a broader archaeological research project. The archaeology component of the project will employ a monitor from Sachs Harbour and will collaborate with the Sachs Harbour Recreation Department to offer an archaeology Youth Camp for students from Sachs Harbour near Fish Lake. The Youth Camp will also hire a cook from Sachs Harbour. At the end of the field season, the research team will host an open house in Sachs Harbour to present the results from both the traditional knowledge research and the archaeological research to the community. The research team will return to Sachs Harbour again in the fall to present these results in the school and to get community feedback on initial plans for the website. As stated above, the results will be disseminated to the Sachs Harbour community through an interactive website the principal researcher will design in collaboration with community members. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 1, 2013 to July 31, 2013.