UCalgary archaeologist recognized with Alberta Heritage Award

Congratulations to Dr. Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, who was selected to receive an Alberta Heritage Awareness Award, in recognition of her outstanding achievement in promoting appreciation of Alberta's heritage through Braiding Blackfoot Knowledge: Alberta Heritage Project.

Through this project, she has been working to demonstrate how archaeology can move beyond its colonial legacy and contribute to reconciliation. She includes affected descendant communities as equal partners in this work and is guided by a group of Blackfoot Knowledge Holders (Kent Ayoungman, Vivian Ayoungman, Jerry Potts and Herman Yellow Old Woman), proving that archaeology and Indigenous communities do not have to be at odds with each other.

This approach was recently demonstrated in the ARKY 306 archaeology field school where students and community members worked together, in partnership with the City of Calgary and Knowledge Holders at a public dig site in Edworthy Park.

Dr. Amundsen-Meyer's work calls attention to the often-overlooked diversity of the past by recognizing the contributions that various communities have played in Alberta’s history. At the Edworthy Park site, they uncovered both projectile points dating back more than 3,000 years, and the remnants of a brick feature believed to be from the historic Brickburn hamlet.

Through her collaborative approach to archaeology and a commitment to reconciliation, Dr. Amundsen-Meyer is helping create a more inclusive understanding of Alberta's past. Congratulations on this well-earned honour.