Parks Canada, Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative working together on future archeology projects - Action News
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Nova Scotia

Parks Canada, Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative working together on future archeology projects

Parks Canada and the Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative are teaming up ahead of infrastructure projects to improve archeological digs at national historic sites.

New collaborative model includes emphasis on Mikmaw cultural perspective ahead of infrastructure projects

The latest dig was at Kejimkujik National Park Seaside in Port Joli, N.S., on Tuesday. Crews with Boreas Heritage Consulting have been doing the work.
Crew members with Parks Canada and Boreas Heritage Consulting are seen examining a site at Kejimkujik National Park Seaside in Port Joli, N.S., on Tuesday. (Alicia Brett/Parks Canada)

Parks Canada and the Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative are teaming up to enhance archeological projects in Nova Scotia.

The groups have been working together for about five years, but a new collaborative model will ensure Mi'kmaw culture and history are considered when planning and developing infrastructure projects at national historic sites.

Kait MacLean, a staff archeologistwith the Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative's archeologyresearch division, said thenew model brings "archeology to the forefront" of Parks Canada projects.

"Mi'kmaq have been here in this land and the waters since time immemorial. There is such a rich cultural history and it's really important for Mi'kmaq to protect, preserve and to really celebrate that," MacLean told CBC Radio's Mainstreet on Wednesday.

"So I think just bringing archeology to the forefront of these projects has really been a big improvement."

Rebecca Dunham with Parks Canada, left, and Kait MacLean with KMKNO, right, are seen at an archeological dig site at Kejimkujik Seaside on Tuesday. (Submitted by Alicia Brett/Parks Canada)

The Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative, also known as the Kwilmu'kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office or KMKNO, has been working with Parks Canada onarcheological projects in Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site.

The latest project has crewssearching for evidence of artifacts before trails can be repairedat Kejimkujik National Park Seaside in Port Joli, N.S. Crews with Parks Canada, the KMKNO andBoreas Heritage Consultingwere working together at the site on Tuesday.

Rebecca Dunham, an archeologistwith the Indigenous affairs and cultural heritage directorate of Parks Canada, was there. Dunhamsaid previously, projects would often feel rushed and there wasn't as much consultation with Mi'kmaw knowledge holders.

A crew member with Boreas Heritage Consulting is seen prepping a site to check for artifacts at Kejimkujik Seaside. (Submitted by Alicia Brett/Parks Canada)

Now, this collaborative modelallows the groups to have open discussions and find common ground before moving ahead on projects.

"What it really does is it allows us to do much better archeology than we've done in the past by incorporating information from Indigenous knowledge holders [and]from local community members," Dunham told Mainstreet.

"Archeology is really, really about understanding people and people in the past more than objects, so [this model] really allows us to do archeology the way we really should be doing it."

MacLean said having Mi'kmaw community involvement is "extremely valuable" when examining a new site.

Another crew member is seen checking dirt for potential Mi'kmaw artifacts on Tuesday. (Submitted by Alicia Brett/Parks Canada)

"We, as archaeologists, can learn so much from people that have this traditional knowledge [to] be able to see the landscape in perhaps a different way than we would have otherwise," she said.

Dunham said themodel has already improved archeological digs because it's more consistent and allows for better, more thorough testing of potential Mi'kmaw sites.

She said a "very important site" was actually discovered after three small pieces of evidence were found. The new model callsfor more testing even if only one piece of evidence is found.

"That initiated expanded testing and it led to the discovery of a pretty significant site down at Kej Beach," Dunham said. "The model works, and from a scientific point of view, having that consistent standard methodology is really good in the long run."

MacLean said she's looking forward to working with Parks Canada on other projects. She said so far, the feedback provided by Mi'kmawknowledge holders and community members has been taken into consideration and implemented.

"We know that the party on the other side of the table is going to be receptive and respectful and genuinely looking to come to a conclusion together," she said.

"That makes a really big difference for us because then we're not put on the defensive coming in. We don't have to prove necessarily every single thing that we're saying. We're able to just be open and collaboratively move forward with things."

With files from CBC Radio's Mainstreet