Reflections on our Indigenous future – Winnipeg Free Press

January 29, 2025

New micro-course teaches students to identify and investigate cultural artifacts, helping to keep them on First Nations land.

A new micro-course in archaeology teaches young Indigenous adults how to investigate and identify cultural artifacts, with a view to keeping them on First Nations land.

In a joint venture, the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation and the University of Alberta’s Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology — along with the participation of band members from Cold Lake First Nations — have been excavating a site on one of Chipewyan Prairie First Nation’s reserves.

“We want to build capacity in historic resource management so that nations can have their own archeologists to keep artifacts on reserve,” says course instructor William Wadsworth, a PhD candidate in the institute. He says First Nations currently don’t have control over their cultural heritage, since it is administered by the provincial government’s archaeological branch.

Read More: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/folio/2025/01/video-indigenous-learners-delve-into-archeology.html