2021)

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00:00:00 - 01:00:00

The video discusses the work of Alison Wylie, a member of the Coast Salish tribe, in surveying development sites in the hopes of finding missing children from the residential school system. The elders and under the direction of the band members surveyed a couple of areas cleared for development, and this project has been an extended, uncertain process. The elders committee with Chief and counsel have been asking difficult questions about the trustworthiness of the archaeological team conducting the survey.

00:00:00 Dr. Alison Wiley is a professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia and also the chair of Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of the Social and Historical Sciences. Her research focuses on epistemic issues raised by archaeological work in the field and feminist research, as well as some questions of accountability to those affected by historical and social research. She is part of the Indigenous Science Project, an interdisciplinary research cluster composed by four faculties and 12 university departments, and also representatives of several First Nations. Her goal is to develop partnership with First Nations and address issues relevant to their communities.
00:05:00 The video discusses the history of the Indian Residential School System in British Columbia, which aimed to "eliminate" Indigenous people and "assimilate" them into Canadian society. The video also discusses the impact of the system on Indigenous people and their descendants.
00:10:00 Alison Wylie discusses the Residential School Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TSRC) in her video, Bearing Witness. The commission was set up in 2010 and was tasked with investigating the history of residential schools in Canada, which operated from the 1700s to the 1990s. The commission was met with widespread criticism from indigenous communities, who argued that the process amounted to a whitewashing of colonial violence against indigenous people. Wylie discusses her own disillusionment with the process, and how it has left indigenous communities feeling unresolved and abandoned.
00:15:00 This video discusses the importance of decolonization, specifically in terms of the relationship between archaeology and indigenous peoples. The author argues that decolonization must be material in order to be successful, and that colonial struggles are not parallel and do not bring closure to the concerns of all. They make the point that alliances and solidarities are only possible if they are informed by an ethic of incommensurability grounded in a recognition of difference of interest and positioning.
00:20:00 This video discusses the role of archaeology in the history of relations between indigenous people and European settlers in North America. The video also discusses the impact of indigenous activism on the field of archaeology, and the impact of legislation related to repatriation of human remains.
00:25:00 This video discusses the controversy over the role of archaeology in the context of decolonization, with Alison Wylie providing her perspective. While some archaeologists defend the authority of science, others argue for a more open and collaborative approach. Bogosian's book, "Fear of Knowledge," is cited as an example of this uncompromising attitude.
00:30:00 The case of Quadhan Chinchi, a young man who was found dead in 1999 near the Yukon border, started as a consultation between indigenous communities and archaeologists. The results of the study showed that he had lived in the interior for at least a year before he died and that he had connections across North America. The community DNA study helped identify 17 descendants of his mother's clan.
00:35:00 The video discusses a study that found that people in the Yukon have long-standing connections with coastal Peoples, regardless of political boundaries. The study also found that these connections transcend artificial contemporary boundaries. The Indigenous partners involved in the study directed attention to primary evidence and brought interpretive resources to bear that archaeologists might not have considered. This resulted in raising questions about cultural affiliation that went beyond the research agenda of the scientists involved. In addition, the study called into question a long-standing presupposition in law and ethnography that indigenous peoples are geographically localized. This suggests that collaborative engagements have the potential to counteract the effects of groupthink within communities.
00:40:00 The video features Alison Wylie, an Indigenous intellectual and activist, discussing her critiques of collaborative practice and archaeology. She argues that, because of institutional economic imperatives and the training received in Western traditions of archaeology, archaeologists are unable to effect real social change. Marina Lasalle and Rich Hutchings, two archaeologists at the University of Vancouver Island, raise similar criticisms of collaborative community-based archaeology. Lasalle and Hutchings argue that this is just the same old practice dressed up in new language, and that institutional economic imperatives and training in Western traditions of archaeology make it impossible to effect real social change. Shotwell argues that, in the face of systemic oppression, complicity and compromise are a starting point for action. I argue that, while collaborative practice may not be fully colonizing, it can still do some of the work Michelle Degla calls for: activating a commitment to establish responsible relations with Indigenous peoples.
00:45:00 The video discusses how a consortium of researchers at the University of British Columbia are working on a project to improve relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians. One of the main goals of the project is to help indigenous communities gain legitimacy and understanding of western science. In 2018, the team reached out to six indigenous communities, and in 2019, they've already begun working with two more. One of the project'slab-based members, Ryan Macmillan, has developed a method for analyzing obsidian belongings that have been excavated for many years, and they're also in the process of conducting non-destructive tests on trace element compositions to determine their origins.
00:50:00 The video discusses a recent study that found that some obsidian artifacts from the Musqueam people may have originated up to 1,000 kilometers south and east from Musqueam settlements on the coast. The study also found that social connections across the region are historically continuous, which has been archaeologically read out of narratives and conceptual armatures of typologies and chronologies. The second project is a study with a community of Indigenous people, Penelope, whose reservation lands include Cooper Island, formerly known as the Indian Industrial School. Survivors of the school say that they were not educated in any sense, and many of them ended up barely literate. In 2012, a documentary about the school, Return to the Healing Circle, broke the code of silence surrounding the abuses. The project aims to locate and memorialize the graves of children who died at the school, which are at risk of disturbance.
00:55:00 The video discusses the work of Alison Wylie, a member of the Coast Salish tribe, in surveying development sites in the hopes of finding missing children from the residential school system. The elders and under the direction of the band members surveyed a couple of areas cleared for development, and this project has been an extended, uncertain process. The elders committee with Chief and counsel have been asking difficult questions about the trustworthiness of the archaeological team conducting the survey. The video ends with some generic advice on how to work effectively as a collaborative researcher. The video discusses the work of Alison Wylie, a member of the Coast Salish tribe, in surveying development sites in the hopes of finding missing children from the residential school system. The elders and under the direction of the band members surveyed a couple of areas cleared for development, and this project has been an extended, uncertain process. The elders committee with Chief and counsel have been asking difficult questions about the trustworthiness of the archaeological team conducting the survey. The video ends with some generic advice on how to work effectively as a collaborative researcher.

01:00:00 - 01:00:00

In this video, Alison Wylie discusses her work on Penelope Island and how it has been met with resistance from the Musqueam people. Wylie argues that in order to decolonize archaeology, changes need to be made in the institutional and disciplinary cultures of archaeology.