Indigenous archaeology at Dionisio Point on Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada: contemporary impacts and implications for archaeological research and practice

Annette Ruzicka

Indigenous archaeology represents an emerging framework that advocates localized practices and encourages archaeologists to consider the broader relevance and impacts of their research. This thesis presents indigenous archaeology as an approach that enriches archaeological practice, while addressing root grievances at the heart of contentious relationships between the colonial nation state and indigenous peoples. Indigenous archaeology provides contexts in which archaeologists can transform their practice and marshal archaeological research in service of descendant communities, as the peoples for whom this research is most relevant and has the greatest impacts. In this thesis, I present research conducted at the Dionisio Point locality (DgRv003 and DgRv-006) on Galiano Island, southwestern British Columbia, Canada as an indigenous-focused, collaborative effort between the Penelakut and other Hul'qumi'num First Nations, Washington State University archaeologists, BC Parks, and the local Galiano community. This project brought together several actors and interests to salvage v and protect an important archaeological site on Hul'qumi'num ancestral land. We, the collaborators, developed a methodology consistent with Hul'qumi'num traditions of cultural heritage management as expressed in Hul'qumi'num customary law. I present the basic tenets of Hul'qumi'num customary law that pertain to archaeological research and illustrate how these tenets were incorporated and implemented in archaeological practice in the 2012 excavation of the Parry Lagoon midden site DgRv-006 at Dionisio Point. I place these efforts within broader contexts, demonstrating not only the archaeological, but also the historical, political, and environmental significance of this research. Through a contextualization of this case study, I demonstrate how archaeological evidence can be marshaled in support of modern indigenous struggles for political self-determination within ancestral territories, combat culture loss as a consequence of colonization, and bolster indigenous efforts toward cultural persistence and revival. While these efforts must be grounded in local context and practice, indigenous struggles for sovereignty are a global phenomenon that questions the foundations of Western imperialism and combats the cultural and political homogenization that results from colonization. Indigenous archaeology is but one path towards a more plural and rich future, in which our research achieves positive outcomes for many actors.

Indigenous archaeology at Dionisio Point on Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada: contemporary impacts and implications for archaeological research and practice

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