Lecture: Mapping Metis Cultural Landscapes

Mapping Métis Cultural Landscapes:
Using GIS and archaeology to understand Métis history in western Canada
A talk by Dr. Kisha Supernant

Dr. Supernant is Métis and an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta.

When: Friday, February 10 at 2 p.m.
Where: Room 132, Archaeology Building, 55 Campus Drive

Relationships between artifact assemblages and cultural identities are complex and difficult to disentangle. The Canadian west during the 1800s provides an interesting historical and archaeological case study that has potential to shed light on the dynamics of settlement, material culture and the mobile nature of Métis peoples. While the historical record of the Metis is reasonably well-understood, the archaeological record of the Métis has received less attention. Archaeology of the Métis also has implications for contemporary issues around ongoing legal battles of Métis communities for Aboriginal rights in Canada. In this paper, Dr. Supernant presents an overview of her recent research on the practice of Métis overwintering in Alberta and Saskatchewan, exploring the connections between the archaeological record and Métis identity. She uses artifact analysis and spatial analysis to examine the ways in which we might try to make sense of the complex geographies, kinship networks and identities of the Métis in the 19th century and today.

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