Research

Ethnoarcheology

Since 1994, the Gwich'in Social & Cultural Institute has worked with the Gwichya Gwich’in, Teetl’it Gwich’in, Nihtat Gwich’in and Tr’ondek Hwech’in on a variety of community-based ethno-archaeological projects. This work, alongside our oral history and place names work is part of our traditional land use research. Through this research, we are building an inventory of heritage sites within the Gwich’in Settlement Region.

Morgan Keevik and Gerald Tetlichi screening for artefacts at the Fort McPherson site in 2000. Photo credit: Ingrid Kritsch, GSCI.

Ethno-archaeological research to date has been carried out in Fort McPherson and the Gwich'in Territorial Park near Inuvik, in the Richardson Mountains, and along the Arctic Red River, the Peel River, the Tombstone Territorial Park (Yukon), and the Blackstone Uplands area. Traditional place names, data on harvesting areas, camp locations, graves, and trails were used in developing a fieldwork strategy for identifying archaeological sites. Gwich'in elders and youth are directly involved in excavating, documenting and visually recording their own heritage along with Institute staff and professional archaeologists.

Walter Alexie, Richard Thompson, Vanessa Kaye and Melanie Fafard examining an eroding bank along the Peel River for artefacts during the Peel River Ethnoarchaeology Project, 2000. Photo credit: Ingrid Kritsch, GSCI.

Barbed antler projectile points from the Fort McPherson site. Photo credit: Ingrid Kritsch, GSCI.