UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Quliaq tohongniaq tuunga (Making Histories): Towards a Critical Inuvialuit Archaeology in the Canadian Western Arctic by Natasha Lyons A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY CALGARY, ALBERTA JUNE 2007 ©Natasha Lyons, 2007 ii UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES The undersigned certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled “Quliaq tohongniaq tuunga (Making Histories): Towards a Critical Inuvialuit Archaeology in the Canadian Western Arctic” submitted by Natasha Lyons in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________________________ Supervisor, Peter Dawson, Department of Archaeology ________________________________________________ Gerald Oetelaar, Department of Archaeology ________________________________________________ Martin Magne, Department of Archaeology ________________________________________________ Brian Rusted, Department of Culture and Communication ________________________________________________ Donald Smith, Department of History _________________________________________________ External Examiner, Stephen Loring, Arctic Studies Centre, Smithsonian Institution ______________________ Date iii Abstract The Inuvialuit of the Western Canadian Arctic have been both underrepresented and misrepresented in the annals of written history. The present study has sought to redress this gap both theoretically and methodologically through the process of undertaking a community-based archaeology project with the Inuvialuit. This study was formulated within a critical perspective, with a view to developing a localized critical theory suited to Inuvialuit worldviews and social needs. Methodologically, the project aimed to enfranchise Inuvialuit into the process of (re)telling their histories through the identification and (re)interpretation of Inuvialuit material culture. Inuvialuit Elders superseded this task by situating their traditional objects in a rich tapestry of personal stories, experiences, and remembrances. They demonstrated how Inuvialuit approaches to the past are fundamentally different from western perspectives of linear history. The study explores the convergences and divergences between how the Inuvialuit past is portrayed by insiders and outsiders, and also suggests how such representations are constructed within present cultural and sociopolitical circumstances. Inuvialuit Elders and community leaders asserted that their identities are constituted by their knowledge of a shared history and by their relationship to the land, and that these representations of the past are critical to understanding their present and to negotiating their future. The relationship developed over the course of this project between the Inuvialuit and archaeological communities has made strides towards both a critical Inuvialuit archaeology and towards the decolonizing of archaeological theory and practice in the Canadian north. iv Dedication This dissertation is dedicated, with much admiration and respect to Elders of the Inuvialuit community and with love and respect to my sister Karen v Acknowledgements I first and foremost acknowledge and thank the many Inuvialuit that I have worked with over the past five years. I thank the Elders that I have worked with from the communities of Aklavik and Inuvik for their knowledge, humour, patience, and expertise. I thank several community leaders who have been integral to the process of developing the ideas presented in this dissertation. These include Cathy Cockney, Mervin Joe, Jerry Kisoun, Billy Archie, Velma Illisiak, and Nellie Cournoyea. I thank organizations in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region for their continued support of this research, including the Inuvik and Aklavik Community Corporations, the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, Aurora Research Institute, the Hamlet of Aklavik and Town of Inuvik. My second major set of acknowledgements is to my amazing doctoral committee. My advisor, Pete Dawson, has been a constant friend, support, and critical mind to this research. Pete, thank you for your open door policy, for your enthusiasm for this research, and for always helping me to explore and expand my evolving ideas. You are a great scholar and a true gentleman. Marty Magne, from Parks Canada, has helped to nurture this research and my work as a scholar over many years. Brian Rusted has provided instrumental discussion and commentary throughout the development of my research design and writing process, always ready with thought-provoking ideas and valuable critique. Gerry Oetelaar and Don Smith both brought critique and knowledge that raised the tenor of my scholarship and broadened my knowledge of different literatures. Finally, I sincerely thank Stephen Loring, my external examiner, for his graceful writing, commitment to the communities with which he works, and for serving as a mentor for the kind of work I aspire to do. I extend many warm thanks to several Parks Canada offices for their sustained financial and logistical support. In Winnipeg, I extend my gratitude to Greg Thomas, Debbie Cochrane, Gary Adams, Paul Dixon, and Sharon Thomsen. In Inuvik, I thank Alan Fehr, Ed McLean, Christian Bucher, Jane Gordon, Pat vi Dunn, and Herbert Allen. I particularly acknowledge Parks warden Mervin Joe for the friendship and insight he has brought to this project, and for the many great times on the land together. Many people have encouraged my interest in the north and helped to propel this research forward. Here, I thank Chuck Arnold, Sue Rowley, Elisa Hart, Julie Cruikshank, Julie Hollowell, and Matthew Betts. In the same vein, I thank my field staff and crews from Parks Canada and Aklavik for their hard work, interest, and enthusiasm during our 2003 field season at Qainuirvik. I also warmly acknowledge time spent in the north with Pete Dawson, Matt Walls, and the Elders of Arviat, Nunavut. I feel indebted to a number of scholars whose work I have read, pondered, digested, and reflected on as this dissertation developed. I acknowledge my intellectual debts to scholars such as Mark Leone, Matthew Johnson, Stephen Loring, Julie Cruikshank, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Anne Clarke, and of course, Bruce Trigger. Similarly, many scholars have been generous with their time, resources, ideas, and encouragement as I worked through the different issues of this thesis. Thanks especially to George Nicholas, Jane Kelley, Julie Hollowell, Elizabeth Linn, Anna de Aguayo, Robert Pihl, Nick Gabrilopoulos, Cornelia Howell, and Jay Cunningham. I have traveled extensively throughout the Canadian north and south over the course of this degree, and have stayed with many welcoming, interesting, and wonderful people. In the North, I thank Danielle and Ryan Drummond, Rachel Munday, the Aklavik RCMP, and many individuals from Parks Canada in Inuvik for their hospitality. In the South, I owe an even greater debt to many close friends who have housed, fed, and taken care of my general welfare over extended periods of time. I extend my love and gratitude to Di and Andy Blumel in Vancouver, Alejandra Alonso Olvera and Sergio Gaytan in Calgary, and the Linn/Monnin clan in Montreal. vii Many close friends of an anthropological persuasion have perpetually supplied insightful discussions and distractions during the course of this research. My love and thanks to Kisha Supernant, Kate Hennessy, Monica Karpiak, Alejandra Alonso Olvera, Trevor Orchard, Rudy Reimer, Sandy Peacock, and Mike Blake. I was also aided in the production of this thesis by a great number of able and generous friends. I thank Paul Dixon for producing the maps that appear in this dissertation. I thank Sergio Gaytan for preparing the colour plates. I thank Kisha Supernant for her help with general formatting and many other logistics. No thesis is of course produced without the aid, love, and support of family members and friends. I have acknowledged many of these people above, but I would additionally like to thank several close friends who have supported me in this process, including Toshi Carleton Gaines, Krista Maccagno, Paula LaRose, Grant Wardlow, and Keri Steele. And finally, I thank my wonderful family—my mom, dad, brother, sister, and dog—for always always supporting my decisions, my hair-brained plans and moves, and my drive to reach my personal and intellectual goals. Lastly, I acknowledge the financial support of a number of institutions who have funded different aspects of this research, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada; Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary; Province of Alberta; Aurora Research Institute; Graduate Student Association, University of Calgary; Parks Canada; and, ArcticNet. viii Table of Contents Abstract.........................................................................................................................................iii Dedication.................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................viii List of Figures..........................................................................................................................