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Topic

Situating Cultural Heritage Management at ȾEL¸IȽĆE/cəlíɫč within the Pasts, Presents, and Futures of BC Archaeology

Department of Anthropology

Date & location

• Monday, April 28, 2025

• 1:00 P.M.

• Clearihue Building

• Room B021 and Virtual

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Brian Thom, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria (Supervisor)

• Dr. Darcy Mathews, School of Environmental Studies, UVic (Member) 

External Examiner

• Dr. Rudy Reimer, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University 

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Ian Putnam, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, UVic

   

Abstract

This thesis provides a synthesis of the history of the archaeological management of the Coast Salish village, ȾEL¸IȽĆE/cəlíɫč. Rather than being recorded as a single landscape level archaeological site encompassing most of the Cordova Bay community in the present day municipality of Saanich, British Columbia, the village has been recorded in the provincial archaeological record as 20 distinct sites. In this schema, no direct connections have been made to recognize that these separately recorded sites are representative of activities occurring across one larger archaeological village. To explain this phenomenon, I analyze archaeological work that has happened in the Cordova Bay area and tie it to relevant shifts in how heritage management is governed both locally and provincially (District of Saanich and WSÁNEĆ Leadership Council, 2021; McLellan & McDowell, 2024; Scambler, 2023a; Scambler, 2023b).

In my findings, I outline how the reality that archaeological materials represent the intellectual property and cultural heritage of Indigenous communities is not unilaterally acknowledged or implemented in provincial heritage legislation or practice. In accordance with Article 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Indigenous peoples have the right to protect and govern tangible heritage, which includes archaeological sites and landscapes. British Columbia has committed to upholding UNDRIP based on the 2019 adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) (British Columbia, 2019). However, irreparable destruction through activities governed by British Columbia through the Heritage Conservation Act (HCA) happen on the ground to material histories in the present day (Mason, 2003; United Nations, 2007, p. 13 14). This thesis explores ways to bridge the gap between these disparate policy intentions and grounded realities through examining the role of the archaeologist and the need for Indigenous legal orders in governance and protection of archaeological sites.