The Kleanza Approach: The challenges of working in Tsimshian territory from a Cultural Resource Management (CRM) perspective.

Summary

Working in Tsimshian territory as consulting archaeologists can be challenging at best particularly in recent years as a growing number of proposed development projects has put the Northwest Coast in the Provincial and Federal spotlight. As a company we strive to ensure our research objectives are guided by community heritage policies however given the nature of the business we are influenced by our client’s requests, confidentiality, binding contracts, budgets, and provincial guidelines. Economic climates affect our competitive structure, staffing, salaries, and hourly charge out rates. It seems some consulting archaeologists prefer a simplified cookie cutter approach collecting baseline data to satisfy research parameters outlined in a provincial permit. The challenge we face is how do we remain competitive but also remain in support of our local communities. Regardless of our intentions we are always caught in the middle between the client and community. We present a recent project in Metlakatla territory as a case study to examine how the work unfolded, and how the scope of work was influenced by the community, our client and other stakeholders. We compare this to other projects we have completed in the region which have been collaborative and community based in our approach.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Tsimshian Archaeology: 50 Years of Research and 10,000 years of History

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17598