Archaeology is not just about the stones, and the bones, the features on the landscape, and the really cool things found along the way that allow us to interpret past human behaviours. It is also very much about the current cultural context within which we are working. For a professional consulting archaeologist in B.C. where the cultural context is almost exclusively indigenous, everyday we are working with or for First Nation communities across the province. Perhaps some of my favourite and influential moments in the field have come while sharing information with elders and knowledge keepers at an excavation or a study area, presenting the our findings and exchanging thoughts and ideas about cultural activities or events that may have taken place at a location during a particular time in the past. These exchanges are often the most rewarding in terms of learning about a particular site or study area, but also about the broader cultural context within which I am working.
With the current pandemic unfolding before us and nearly two months of strict social distancing requirements in place, there has been perhaps too much time available to consider the history of past pandemics. Canadians have experienced only one pandemic, the Spanish Flu of 1919 that killed countless millions across the globe. First Nations, on the other hand have had the misfortune to experience many more. Perhaps the most devastating being the Smallpox epidemics that wiped out entire villages and nearly entire cultures across B.C. The impacts of smallpox still resonate with First Nation communities today. For example, on more than one occasion when touring an elder around an excavation site, I would offer an arrowhead or some other interesting artifact for them to see and the elders would refuse to touch it or even come close for fear that the object may still be carrying disease such as Smallpox. The threat of contracting the Smallpox virus that killed so many of their ancestors was still real for these elders and that surprised me at the time. Regardless of whether this belief was scientifically sound (it is! Just extremely unlikely in southern B.C.), the fact that a very serious and horrible epidemic that swept across First Nation communities 200 years prior continues to impact and influence people’s behaviour is very significant.
From an archaeological perspective, this moment in our collective history will leave a distinct and obvious footprint on the planet. Future archaeologists will be able to pinpoint the exact moment in time when COVID-19 changed our culture based on discrete layers in landfills with increased occurrences of latex gloves, facemasks, and other PPE necessary to protect workers and use this evidence to place their excavations in space and time much like we do today. Material remains aside, the question remains, to what degree will this crisis impact the behaviours of the current and future generations? While the impacts of COVID-19 are not currently on the same scale as past epidemics and we are not likely to experience the overwhelming population loss that led to significant changes in First Nation communities, it represents a once in a hundred year event that requires our full attention and coordination to tackle for the good of all.