Mobilizing and Motivating: Closing the Capacity Gap in Cultural Resource Management in British Columbia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Entry into cultural resource management (CRM) in British Columbia (BC) requires a bachelor of arts or science in anthropology or archaeology, academic streams not typically associated with high employability. Yet, archaeology in BC is booming. Industries traditionally employing BC archaeologists outside of academia, such as forestry and mining, must now compete with municipal and private development as BC’s population grows and, with it, local development. Combined with unprecedented emmigration from urban centres, this means that BC archaeology is witnessing an increasing demand within an industry limited by finite capacity and a not-insubstantial barrier to entry. On top of the academic requirements, recent and historical problems centred on colonizer-colonized power dynamics and Indigenous land claims and rights have cooled enthusiasm in younger generations of potential archaeologists who must grapple with the ethics of joining an industry thoroughly embedded within the exploitative intersection of colonialism and capitalism. By recognizing the growing capacity gap, one can then explore possible causes such as field avoidance due to the aforementioned history of archaeology in the Americas, and then promote potential solutions, including public education, Indigenous Archaeologies, and decolonizing the field. If CRM archaeology is to thrive, equipping upcoming archaeologists to do “good” archaeology is paramount.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37555.0