The OAS Technical Bulletin Task Force sent out 138 “Archaeology Packages” soliciting direct comment and input from the First Nations in Ontario. We received 20 responses representing about 14.5% of the groups contacted. Many of the respondents highlighted the fact that involvement to the extent necessary, in the archaeological consulting process, will stress the human and the financial resources of their communities. We feel quite strongly that these very significant factors are also a major reason which prevented more communities from responding to our invitation. It is apparent that much greater awareness of the importance of archaeology resources and of the archaeological process must be created among First Nations.
Clearly, First Nations in Ontario care very much about their heritage. It is also just as evident that First Nations in Ontario feel strongly about the need to be consulted, not just informed, about a process which is so close to their cultural heritage. As such, the OAS Technical Bulletin Task Force recommends the following actions be undertaken to begin addressing the challenges for archaeology in Ontario that the new Standards and Guidelines for Consulting Archaeologists will present when they are put into place:
- The Ministry of Culture, possibly in collaboration with other
Ontario government ministries such as the Ministry of Aboriginal
Affairs, should be urged to begin immediately a process by which the
First Nations in Ontario can create a document which would outline the
manner in which they, the First Nations in Ontario, wish to be
consulted as part of archaeological consulting in Ontario. Such a
process would examine roles and responsibilities from the perspectives
of both the consultants and the First Nations, including capacity
building, sensitivity awareness, funding etc;
- The Ontario Archaeological Society should, through its First Nations Liaison Committee, strike a Task Force which would seek ways to expand meaningfully the relationships that the OAS Technical Bulletin Task Force has created between the OAS and the First Nations in Ontario. An important part of capacity building would be to provide the First Nations of Ontario with a window into Ontario’s archaeological community and its activities; a function that the OAS is eminently able to carry out.
| BACKGROUND | ACTIVITIES | SUMMARY |
| RESULTS | F.N.RECOMMENDATIONS | TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS |