Education is considered one of the critical pathways to empowerment for many, including First Nation communities who suffered trauma as a result of residential schools. In 1988, the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society (SCES) entered into a unique partnership with Simon Fraser University (SFU) designed to make university education accessible to aboriginal students. Classes in sociology, anthropology, Secwepemc language, as well as archaeology were taught at the new SFU-SCES campus located on the Tk’emlúps Reserve in Kamloops. In addition to these academic courses, archaeological field schools were also offered in Kamloops with a focus on providing indigenous students training with the skills and techniques necessary to become qualified field archaeologists. Many of the students that graduated from the SFU-Kamloops Archaeology field schools went on to become accomplished and respected archaeologists working to manage and protect cultural heritage resources for First Nation communities. These students represent the first generation of Indigenous Archaeologists and many remain important sources of knowledge and expertise for their communities. Following the formal end of the SFU-SCES partnership in 2004 and the departure of SFU from Kamloops in 2010, a real lack of education opportunities for First Nations in archaeology in particular became apparent. Training of new field assistants became the responsibility of consulting archaeologists who would offer the occasional week long certificate course geared towards teaching the basics of field survey and recording.
Recognizing the need to not only train new archaeological assistants, but to also inspire a new generation of First Nation archaeologists Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc Natural Resources Department entered into a partnership with Camosun College in Nanaimo to run a pilot project offering their Archaeological Field Assistant Training Program here on the Tk’emlúps Reserve. This two-week long intensive program provided students with essential background education regarding heritage legislation, the local archaeological record, and the variety of methods that archaeologists employ while doing archaeological inventories.
Week one was spent in the classroom reviewing the necessary background information as well as training students in some of the core techniques used in the field such as orienteering with map and compass, using handheld GPS units, recognizing artifacts and culturally modified trees, and stratigraphy (i.e., layers of soil or sediments). Week two saw the exposed students to the rigors of field work where they participated in a permitted Archaeological Impact Assessment of a discrete development. This portion of the program involved initial pedestrian survey and assessment of archaeological potential of the development followed by shovel testing of these areas in search of buried archaeological sites. Following the discovery of three separate archaeological sites, students returned to the classroom to discuss the findings and to develop recommendations for the protection and management of these newly discovered sites. This curriculum allowed the students to gain firsthand experience in the steps that go into an archaeological assessment and the general process of doing field archaeology. The methods and techniques learned from the program have provided students with the necessary skills and knowledge to be employed by their respective communities as archaeological field technicians engaged in the survey, identification, and recording of archaeological sites.
Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Nicole Kilburn (Camosun College), program developer, who graciously allowed TteS to hold this course remotely and the rest of the Camosun staff who made this happen. Student funding was provided by ASETS and course materials were generously donated by Golder Associates, Interfor, Tolko, and Wood PLC.