When you stroll through museums with collections of Indigenous history, who exactly is providing the narrative for the artifacts displayed? Would the story or the presentation be different if that narrator were of First Nations, Métis, Inuit or Native American heritage?
Lindsay Montgomery believes so, and it’s this and other questions she seeks to answer in her course Indigenous Archaeologies through the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Department of Anthropology.
“This class isn't about teaching about First Nations or Native American history,” says Montgomery, an associate professor with the department. “It’s teaching students about the history of how archaeology has interacted with Native Americans.”
That leads to some weighty lectures and discussions about scientific racism, colonialism and artifact collecting practices linked to the development of archaeology and anthropology as a discipline.
“I've never once walked away from a discussion in this class thinking that I didn't learn something new,” says Montgomery. “I come away both exhausted and inspired.”
“We’re thinking critically about why and how Indigenous histories have largely been narrated by non-Indigenous archaeologists. We are also thinking about the different methods and approaches that archaeologists can draw on to incorporate Native worldviews and the writings of Indigenous scholars into their work. The ultimate goal is to infuse Indigenous voices and perspectives into the interpretation of the material record.”
When we think about Indigenous archaeology, there’s not just one way of doing research, it's grounded in the local needs of each Indigenous community. One of the key tenets is that archaeology should be responding to the unique cultural and historical facets of the community and considering what their goals and research needs are.
Why is the name of the course pluralized?
“When we think about Indigenous archaeology, there’s not just one way of doing research, it's grounded in the local needs of each Indigenous community,” says Montgomery. “One of the key tenets is that archaeology should be responding to the unique cultural and historical facets of the community and considering what their goals and research needs are.”
Some communities may pursue archaeology as part of economic development through projects such as roadwork or the installation of solar panels — projects that require historical investigation before ground is broken.
In other situations, communities may want to delve into archaeology to create collections for cultural centres where they teach visitors and tribal members about the community’s unique history.
“In other instances, archaeology is about developing materials in order to bring evidence to court,” says Montgomery, referring to issues surrounding land claims, rights to natural resources, or even identifying unmarked graves.
Montgomery’s course explores how to best work with different Indigenous communities to achieve this spectrum of heritage goals, using techniques that differ from traditional archaeological models.
“Are there non-invasive forms of archaeological surveys that don't destroy material belongings in the way that traditional excavations do?” asks Montgomery. “What other types of practices can we do?”
The class examined such techniques through discussions as well as excursions to museum collections at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).
This has been a rich learning experience. And my love and respect for Indigenous writing, worldviews, activism and histories continues to grow, as does my passion for contributing to real change in the discipline of archaeology.
Students were given a guided tour of the Daphne Cockwell Gallery dedicated to First People’s Art & Culture in the ROM and introduced to the archival materials associated with the Fort Albany Collections — a fur-trading post founded in Northern Ontario in the late 1600s at the mouth of the Albany River on James Bay.
“This class gives students an opportunity to analyze objects that relate to a dynamic period in Canadian history where Indigenous people and Europeans, primarily British and French, are interacting in violent but also collaborative ways and are engaging in new material practices and traditions in the process,” says Montgomery.
Practices around the display and curation of the ROM’s Native North American collections are currently going through a reformulation, through the involvement of Indigenous consultants, after having received criticism for the objects chosen for display and how it represented Indigenous people.
“I wanted to give students a chance to look at this gallery before it becomes re-envisioned and get them thinking about the potential problems they see with exhibitions and the representation of Indigenous people,” she says. “And then, how can they use that critical lens to think about how they would change these galleries.”
Through the discussions and assignments, Montgomery has been delighted with the students’ level of energy and enthusiasm and their ability to think critically.
“I've seen them evolve with respect to being able to put texts into conversation,” she says. “Because often what's easiest for us — and what we've learned early in school — is how to summarize somebody else’s argument. What I've seen them do over the course, is actually think. They’re grounding their own ideas in the literature and using it to make an informed argument.”
It’s a refreshing change from endless social media discourse, which Montgomery calls, “so reactionary and very personalized.”
“I see the students saying, ‘This is what I think, and here’s why I think that based on these texts,’ and that's very powerful to me.”
The course has also been very powerful for Iulia Vuia, a fourth-year anthropology student and a member of St. Michael’s College. It helped her overcome any trepidations about her area of study being tied to politics.
“I took this course because I wanted to get more familiar with the land that I work on as a non-Native Canadian student,” she says. “When I started studying archaeology, I thought working with the past would help me avoid politics because politics always frightened me. The more I learned about the history of our country, the more I realized there was no way around it: my field of study was deeply political. This course helped me embrace that side of archaeology.”
Montgomery loves the idea that her students, like Vuia, are now seeing archaeology’s potential to bolster Indigenous communities in a variety of ways.
“There are very specific things that archaeology can do that’s deeply meaningful for tribal communities today,” says Montgomery. “I want my students to walk away from this class with an understanding of archaeology’s problems, but also a recognition that there's something special about archaeology that’s empowering for Native people.”
Says Vuia, “This has been a rich learning experience. And my love and respect for Indigenous writing, worldviews, activism and histories continues to grow, as does my passion for contributing to real change in the discipline of archaeology.”