Archaeologist problems: when the Newfoundland and Labrador Government and Provincial Archaeology Office (PAO) go hard-line on erasing Innu history for years, to the bafflement of basically every archaeologist outside the PAO, and itās hitting the headlines hard this month:
Innu Cultural Guardian Jodie Ashini says she thought National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, would be the perfect day to open the Innu Pak
For the record, as far as I can tell every other rational archaeologist (including me) thinks this is pretty fucked up:
A letter signed by eight anthropologists and archaeologists at Memorial University expresses support for Innu in the ongoing dispute with th
Loring questioned the reason for the government's approach to date. "It's about minerals, power. It's about NATO low-level flying. Government wants control over land that is ancestral Innu land, belongs to the Innu, and so by denying their land claim based on this spurious historical misinterpretation- that's the dark side. And whether that's true or not I don't know. But it certainly has that appearance," he said.
If so, the PAO has been instructed on this for a while. I distinctly remember a PAO archaeologist making a flat statement about ālack of evidenceā during the question period at an archaeology conference a few years ago, and there was a stunned silence from the rest of us.
An update, of sorts:
Newfoundland and Labrador's Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Lela Evans says the provincial government is dedicated to "true
"Ashini also cautioned Evans against any investigation dealing only with the Provincial Archaeology Office, saying it would be more appropriate to sit with 'a non-biased archaeologist' as she, as suggested, tries to establish facts for herself."
With the Rooms saying nothing and the PAO saying very little, it seems increasingly likely that they've been directed by the Provincial Government on what they're allowed to say about this. Having some comments from another archaeologist is definitely the way to go.
