Paper short abstract:

In this paper, we provide examples from our work on material culture in Inuit Nunangat and oral history in unceded Algonquin territory, in what is now Canada, to illustrate our attempts to recognize and disrupt colonial power dynamics inherent in human geography and anthropological archaeology.

Paper long abstract:

Indigenous lifeways, including material culture and oral forms of history, have long been the subject of academic studies largely undertaken by agents of colonial structures (museums, schools, universities). Narratives produced from this work tend to be presented as truth or fact; however, they are often a better reflection of the 'settler lens'. Value and meaning tend to be ascribed to Indigenous culture and heritage by those outside of Indigenous communities whose ways of understanding the world undermine those that they study. Though colonial narratives still dominate discussions of Indigenous lifeways in the classroom, scholarly publications, and popular culture, with Indigenous resurgence and greater awareness of the impacts of colonial processes, scholars now have a greater appreciation for Indigenous voices and knowledge and the power structures in which we operate.

As two settler academics focusing on Indigenous lifeways within what is now Canada, in this paper we confront the colonial disciplines in which we work, human geography and anthropological archaeology. We do so in an effort to move towards a more ethical approach to knowledge and practice. In our individual domains we move to recognize and disrupt the power dynamics inherent to these encounters and discuss some of the stumbling blocks we have faced. We present examples of recovering - or leaving be - archaeological material from Inuit Nunangat; and seeking to understand processes of oral history on unceded Algonquin territory in Ontario, that attempt more wholistic understanding of Indigenous lifeways and illustrate our efforts to meld different ways of knowing.