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Challenges in the Protection and Conservation of Archaeological Resources In the National Capital Region

Speaker ~ Ian Badgley, NCC Archeologist

Wednesday, September 27, 2023
doors open at 6:30 pm - talk at 7:00 pm

Larrimac Golf Club
1148 Quebec Rte 105 Chelsea, Quebec J9B 1P4

Ian Badgley has been an archaeologist since 2009 with the National Capital Commission, in a multi-faceted role, which he says involves “finding, recovering, interpreting and managing artifacts that tell the story of our cultural heritage.”

The erosion of ancient shorelines due to climate change has been recognized as a global crisis in archaeology. While the impacts of this are most often represented as a coastal problem caused by sea level rise, archaeological resources located on inland lake and river shorelines are equally threatened by increased frequency and severity of storms and flooding. The National Capital Region is no exception, where a marked acceleration in the erosion of pre-contact archaeological sites has been noted in recent years. The continuing destruction of these sites represents a disaster for the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation, whose history and cultural legacy is literally being washed away.

The National Capital Commission launched the Assessment and Rescue of Archaeological Legacy (ARAL) project in 2018, to addresses the damage caused by the ongoing erosion of shorelines in the region. The initial phase of the project focused on auditing and re-documenting known archaeological sites, and the survey of shorelines along a section of the Ottawa River that have not been previously explored archaeologically. This phase provided the baseline information required to understand the current impact on, and future risk to, the pre-contact archaeological sites in the region. Following a summary of the pre-contact history in the region, the current results of ARAL and preliminary protective measures will be presented. Consideration of long term solutions, including the full and direct involvement of the Anishinabe Algonquins in the stewardship of their archaeological legacy are discussed.

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An Ancient Cultural Landscape in the Heart of the Capital Region

Speaker ~ Jean-Luc Pilon, Archeologist

Tuesday, October 24th 2023
doors open at 6:30 pm - talk at 7:00 pm

Centre Wakefield La Pêche Library
38 ch. de-la-Vallée de Wakefield, QC J0X 3G0

Dr. Pilon is a renowned archeologist, long-time curator of Central Canada archaeology at the Canadian Museum of History, an educator, and was the first recipient of the J.V. Wright Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario Archaeological Society.

Archaeological evidence has been slowly accumulating for more than 150 years. Those objects and places have much to tell us about the people who lived along the shores of the Kitchi Sibi between the mouth of the Gatineau River and the Chaudière's Falls. The evidence tells of a special place that welcomed people from literally across the continent for thousands of years.

The great falls were also a place of great significance, meaning and power, and in many ways were an anchor between those travelling along the shores of the river and those who had passed on. Taken together, this information can be used to suggest that the landscape below the falls and ending in the area of the Gatineau River mouth was a cultural landscape and not just a collection of sites located within proximity to each other.

Here is a link to his video - Paddling Through the Past.

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