Engaging Aboriginal Communities in Archaeology - Ministry of ...

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the kind of input (knowledge) or participation you are seeking from the communityand how that may vary for each stage in the project.Ask community representatives how they prefer to exchange information on thearchaeological project and design the communication processes accordingly. Find out ifthe community has been involved in other archaeological projects and how theengagement proceeded.Develop an understanding with the Aboriginal community (or communities) to clarifycommunication, including how the community will participate in the archaeologicalproject, when its input will be sought and how it will be used, and how you will reportback to the community on the project. Some Aboriginal communities have developedagreements (sometimes referred to as protocols) with local or provincial governmentagencies, municipal governments, archaeological consulting firms or associations, orproponents. Such agreements cover notification and the engagement and/or consultationprocesses. Ask community representatives if they have any existing agreements that couldserve as a starting point for discussion.By listening to the community at the initial stage, you will begin to understand howarchaeology is viewed and learn the role it plays within the community. This will alsoestablish a basis for the development of the engagement process that is to follow.Note that engagement is best achieved by face-to-face contact. Meetings are usually moreeffective than letters and phone calls, both in the initial phases of engagement with acommunity and throughout the archaeological project. Where possible, hold meetings inthe Aboriginal community. You may need to communicate information both formally andinformally, through written materials, making presentations and talking to people. Eachinteraction should allow time for the community representatives to ask questions andcommunicate their perspectives.Try to take into account the priorities of the community and other demands on itsrepresentatives. Many Aboriginal communities are overwhelmed with the volume ofrequests for consultation and engagement from government and proponents. Your effortsto carry out community engagement in a way that is mindful of this burden would bewelcome. For example, build considerable lead time into the archaeological project plan,organize and conduct community information sessions about the project, or look foropportunities to work with other consultants or your client to consolidate engagementprocesses on multiple projects. If a community advises you that resource limitations couldhinder participation, you may wish to facilitate communication between the communityand your client to discuss how best to support Aboriginal engagement.Draft Engaging Aboriginal Communities in Archaeology | 9
It is an effective approach to try to build a long-term relationship with the community byencouraging participation and maintaining contact through regular communication. Suchrelationships can:ease the exchange of information;promote shared understanding of interests;build communication channels; andfacilitate and expedite future archaeological projects.3.3 Incorporating Input from the Aboriginal communityAs noted in Part 1 of this bulletin, when recommending avoidance and protection orexcavation for certain types of archaeological sites, you must engage Aboriginalcommunities in the development of a strategy to mitigate impacts to the site.The standards and guidelines make it clear that avoidance and protection is the preferredoption for archaeological sites with cultural heritage value or interest. This optionpreserves the sites intact [See Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists, Section4.1].It is good practice to discuss mitigation options with the Aboriginal community earlyin the archaeological project, ensure that the options are clearly understood, and documentthe community’s preference. You must consider the input of the Aboriginal community atthe point when you make mitigation recommendations. However, because proponentshave the greatest flexibility at the start of a development project, it is a good idea to makethe community’s preference known to your client as early as possible.Where your recommendations do not reflect the community’s preference, you shouldcommunicate this to your client as early as possible as well.The standards and guidelines do not require you to negotiate agreements between theAboriginal community and your client.Other effective strategies to incorporate input from Aboriginal communities could includethe following:Gather information in the language of the Aboriginal community involved. Valuablecultural information encoded in language can be lost in translation to English orFrench. Engaging with speakers of the community’s language, either directly orthrough a translator, may yield better insights into the archaeological site, its function,or the traditional uses of that area.Adjust fieldwork processes or strategies, as in the following examples: work Aboriginal ceremonies into the fieldwork process;Draft Engaging Aboriginal Communities in Archaeology | 10
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Page 20 and 21: 5 ResourcesMany web-based informati
Page 22 and 23: Anderdon Wyandot: http://www.wyando
Page 24 and 25: Clarke, P. D.1870 Origin and Tradit
Page 26 and 27: Trigger, Bruce1976 The Children of
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