Thesis Defence: A Critical Examination of Commercial Archaeological Practice and the Provincial Data Ecosystem in Westbank First Nation’s Area of Responsibility

Michael Peter Elvidge, supervised by Dr. Neha Gupta, will defend their thesis titled “A Critical Examination of Commercial Archaeological Practice and the Provincial Data Ecosystem in Westbank First Nation’s Area of Responsibility” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies – Digital Arts & Humanities theme.

An abstract for Michael Peter Elvidge’s thesis is included below.

Defences are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. This defence will be offered in hybrid format.  Registration is not required to attend in person; however, please email neha.gupta@ubc.ca to receive the Zoom link for this defence.

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ABSTRACT

Westbank First Nation, a self-governing syilx nation, and its members have individual and community rights to cultural heritage and have adopted policies regarding heritage management. As the province of British Columbia aims to bring its heritage legislation into alignment with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration), this research critically examines the provincial heritage data ecosystem, its alignment with Westbank/syilx heritage policies and with the Indigenous Data Governance (IDG) principles of OCAP® (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics), and the closely related data-centred FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles. Long-term management and curation of archaeological data is an ongoing area of interest for Indigenous communities, Canadian archaeologists, and government agencies. Recent social developments such as the Province of British Columbia, and Government of Canada’s adoption of the UN Declaration, and the identification of unmarked graves at former Indian Residential School sites, shift scholarly focus to IDG, which centers the rights of Indigenous peoples in the collection, management, analysis, sharing and curation of archaeological heritage. Canadian heritage legislation and laws typically underestimate Indigenous peoples’ rights and interests in governance of their heritage, and often distances them from archaeological heritage. Through focus group discussions, anonymous surveys, and interviews with Westbank archaeologists, syilx Elders, and Knowledge Keepers, and commercial archaeologists operating within Westbank’s Area of Responsibility, this study examines how archaeology and cultural heritage is differentially understood and how these understandings influence the application of provincial commercial archaeological policies, legislation, and best practices. I show that policies, such as Bulletin 17, and technologies such as the Remote Access to Archaeological Data (RAAD) and the BC electronic identification (BCeID) systems limit access and control over cultural heritage data, and prevent assessments of quality of data, which in turn, have impacts on decision making within Westbank’s Area of Responsibility. I demonstrate that IDG principles can support Westbank and other Indigenous nations and communities in deriving value and collective benefit from archaeological data in the digital age and show how these principles can inform ethical practice and policy making in British Columbia.