President's Message
January/February 2009
(as published in Arch Notes New Series 14(1))
I recently returned to Canada following a trip to southern Chile, Patagonia, where I examined ethnographic collections relating to Fuegians/Patagonians and carried out site survey and visits on the northern side of the Straits of Magellan with a local archaeologist from the Universidad de Magallanes, Alfredo Prieto. This is a part of the world which has long interested me, especially as it is, like Canada, a region of harsh climate. My hope is to see some valuable bilateral exchanges where we learn more about our respective realities, both the points in common as well as the significant differences. Hopefully an exhibition which would enlighten us about our southern confrËres of the cold (a mantle that Canadians love to wear over their high-tech insulated outerwear) will some day be seen in both Canada and the southern cone of this continent.
Our perception of South America usually focuses on high civilizations or tropical environments. The tip of that continent only rarely enters our imagination except through the biased eyes of casual XIXth century European observers. In spite of a great many more serious studies of the peoples of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia, in the English speaking world, the words of Charles Darwin still ring loudly: ìthe most abject and miserable creatures I anywhere beheld.î
Yet these people were successful in living in this most southerly region of the continent (where, by the way, some of the oldest archaeological remains of the Americas south of the glaciers [Monte Verde, Chile] are to be found) and later studies showed that while their material condition was not the same as that of other groups, their spiritual world was quite complex and well-furnished.
The only reason for bringing this up now is to make the point that Darwin's observations and opinions are not easily challenged, not because of their basis in fact, but because of who he is and the place he has come to occupy in the modern scientific world with his theory of the origins of species. He was a fine and brilliant naturalist, but he was not an anthropologist.
Recently (Jan. 23, 2009), the Toronto Star published an article about a bottle collector and his passion for learning about the past through the discovery of old dump sites and the search for their precious booty of bottles. Reading this article really allows you to understand that this young man and his friends are earnest in their appreciation for history and the opportunity to come into close and personal contact with it is exhilarating. OAS members absolutely understand this.
Troubling, however, is that the article excitingly promotes such an interest that flies in the face of some of the basic notions underlying archaeology; the controlled recovery of objects and information, and their preservation and sharing. Society agrees with such notions since this past belongs to the collectivity who, though their legislature, enacted laws to ensure that the past is considered and, in as much as is reasonable, preserved for the future.
There has been a law to protect archaeological sites and manage their study in Ontario for 34 years now, yet a major newspaper in a major Canadian city publishes in 2009 an article which undermines the basic principles of the Heritage Act. Imagine if we were talking about the thrill of driving on public streets at high speed without a driving permit and without respecting speed rules and road safety regulations. The outcry would be intolerable and no newspaper would ever carry such a story.
Of course, human safety does not compare with dirty old bottles long abandoned to garbage dumps. Still, the media have a duty to be responsible in their reporting and story telling, because, like those reading the great Charles Darwin, most readers will not be in a position to critically evaluate some of the implications I've just mentioned. And so, as far as a great many readers of the Toronto Star's Living section are concerned, they too can go out and rummage through the countryside looking for old dumps, or old house foundations, or construction sites, or ploughed fields, orÖand pick up, collect, dig up, whatever they see. After all, the Star showed them it's okay.
As OAS members and people with a genuine interest in the past, we can serve as models and we can also bring such articles and attitudes to the attention of newspapers and other media by writing to them and suggesting there are alternatives to digging for bottles which yield surprising results like new insights into the past revealing lost bits of our history, etc. I am not advocating that anyone should carry a stick here, but we could and should be prepared to put out a few carrots.
On Jan. 11th, the board of directors met for the last meeting of the 2008 board and the first of the 2009 board. Alicia Hawkins and Henry van Lieshout made their last presentations and left the board with our thanks and before they parted with us, they left us with commitments to be available if and when we have need of their talents and knowledge. In fact, Henry will continue to guide the transition process for our new Secretary/Treasurer, Jim Keron.
At the same time, we welcomed new board members Neal Ferris and Steve Timmermans, who, along with our still new Executive-Director, Lorie Harris, will be slowly entering the fray of Ontario archaeology from the perspective of the board of directors of the OAS (which, I dare say, is different from other vantage points).
I agreed to continue in my role as President of the OAS for one last year, after which I am prepared to stay on the board for an additional year in order to ensure a smooth transition. There remain several projects that I wished to see through or at least see started before I left. While I think the list may be somewhat ambitious, it is still worth keeping on the front burner of the stove. This list includes 1) a revamped website; 2) encouraging a province-wide network of archaeology-related organizations/institutions/ interpretive centers, etc.; 3) finding some way of bringing attention to Ontario archaeology on a province-wide basis; 4) finding ways through collaboration with sibling organizations, of commemorating the 400th anniversary of Champlain's first descriptions of lands now within the province of Ontario.
Do you have ideas about any of the above or other related subjects pertaining to Ontario archaeology or the OAS? Don't hesitate to contact myself, Lorie Harris or any of the board members and share them with us. Feedback is so important and your suggestions are always welcome, even if we cannot always act on them.
So while the snow continues to fly here in the national capital region and the Ottawa buses get back on the road after a 51 (!) day strike, continue to write up last summer's work and consider producing articles for Ontario Archaeology or Arch Notes (Sheryl Smith, our new Arch Notes editor will appreciate it!) because before you know it, the sun will warm and the trowels will come out again, marking the beginning of yet another season of discovery.
Jean-Luc Pilon