A 麻豆视频 research project that seeks to provide archaeological proof for Indigenous oral histories in L铆l虛wat territory has received $360,000 in funding. The grant comes from the College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada ().
The project, Interweaving Narratives: Integrating Oral Histories with Archaeological Investigations in L铆暮wat Territory, is co-led by 麻豆视频 Anthropology instructor Bill Angelbeck in collaboration with the .
Now in its 10th year, the project seeks to determine the antiquity of storied L铆l虛wat cultural sites and understand them in light of their oral histories. The excavation of eight pithouse village sites and radiocarbon dating of a hunting camp has provided evidence that the ancestral territory has been home to the L铆l虛wat for at least 5,500 years. Other artifacts found by Johnny Jones, an archaeologist and cultural historian for the L铆暮wat Nation, indicate that they鈥檝e inhabited their territory since the glaciers receded over 8,000 years ago.
Angelbeck said that the project employs a distinctive decolonial approach that looks not just at the material evidence produced through archaeological investigation, but also the L铆l虛wat stories associated with the excavation sites.
鈥淲e are weaving together ancient oral histories with scientific knowledge to strengthen and archaeologically validate Indigenous ways of knowing,鈥 said Angelbeck. 鈥淭his project provides a collaborative platform for an ongoing relationship with the L铆l虛wat community. The research we鈥檙e generating in their territories, including knowledge, will be in their archives for the community to access.鈥
Using drone-powered LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) laser technology piloted by Geography lab technician Sasha Djakovic, the project has generated detailed 3D surface maps of excavation sites and created a database of their ancestral place names in the Ucwalm铆cwts language.
Angelbeck also co-published two articles in leading academic journals and the evaluating the geological record of Qwelqwel煤sten (the Mount Meager Volcanic Complex) in the context of L铆暮wat oral histories of the volcano.
The grant money, pursued in collaboration with L铆暮wat Nation Land and Resources Department, will be spent over the next three years to substantially expand research in and with the community.
鈥淚t is a deep privilege for 麻豆视频 to contribute to scholarship in support of the L铆暮wat Nation. This extraordinary project has created unique opportunities for our students, staff and faculty to learn about and contribute to knowledge of local Indigenous histories,鈥 said Carla Hotel, Dean of Social Sciences and Humanities at 麻豆视频. 鈥淲e are grateful to the L铆暮wat Nation for their trust and continued stewardship."
Two additional CCSIF grants are currently held by Philosophy instructor Elliot Rossiter and Therapeutic Recreation instructor for community-based research projects related to housing insecurity and arts-based care outreach in the province.
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