Introducing the Crew

We are just a week away from embarking on this year’s field season in Sechelt, BC, and we are all looking forward to what lies ahead.

This year we have invited four talent students from the University of Toronto to the field. This July, they will be trained in archaeological field methods and will have the opportunity to learn about shíshálh culture. They will also be blogging throughout the month and sharing their experiences.

To introduce you to the University of Toronto Undergraduate Student team, here are a couple words about each of the U of T members.

Jeremy

Photo: I. Dunin-Markiewicz

Jeremy is a third-year Archaeology Specialist from Toronto. He got involved in the project through the 399 program at U of T which offered the opportunity of field work. He is excited for the possibility of working on a new site. He sees this as an opportunities in archaeology that really captures the spirit of discovery that draws so many, himself included, to the field. Aside from that, he is excited to see scenic Sechelt for himself and to put a picture to a name.

Erina

Photo: E. Baci

Erina is a fourth-year Archaeology Specialist at the U of T. She always knew that she wanted to become an archaeologist. It was her curiosity to know and understand the past that drew her to archaeology. She joined this project because she saw it as a wonderful learning opportunity to learn field methods and more about the Shishalh people and how their complex culture evolved. Erina looks forward to working on the site first hand and with a bit of luck, hopes to uncover an artifact or two.

Emilia

Photo: J. Deer

Emilia is a third-year Anthropology student at U of T. She has recently returned to university after a 9-year break to continue her academic pursuits in Anthropology. Emilia was especially attracted to this project as it offered a rare low-cost opportunity to go into the field. After studying archaeology theory at the U of T, she felt that participation in this project would satisfy her curiosity for actually ‘doing’ archaeology. Emilia is excited to take in the Sechelt cultural experience and you can expect her hitting the art and music scene.

Aidan

Photo: A. Fournier

Aidan is a fourth-year U of T student majoring in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology. Originally from Aurora, Ontario, she has recently moved back to Toronto and could not be happier. She has a passion for reading, cats, and archaeology. She finds great pleasure in exploring the past through the clues it leaves behind. Her goal for this summer is to learn as much as she possibly can. This will be her first real experience with archaeological field work and she is excited to get started.

Supervising Team:

Allee Holland

Photo: T. Clark

Allee is a PhD student in the department of Anthropology at McMaster. Her research is currently in the field of medical anthropology, but she has worked as a bioarchaeologist for eight years and has worked on the shíshálh Archaeology Project for three years as an osteologist. Being a bioarchaeologist, she specializes in working with ancient human remains in order to find out information on their age, sex, health, and diet. She has not been in the field for the last two years and id excited to be going back to Sechelt and to have the opportunity to be part of a really interesting project.

David Bilton

Photo: B. Letham

David has worked on the Sechelt Archaeology Project since its beginning in 2008. Since that time, he has excavated at five different sites in shíshálh traditional territory and wrote his PhD dissertation about the fish remains that the team recovered from these sites. Currently, he is a teacher at James Robinson Public School in Markham. David is excited to return because he hasn’t been for over 3 years now and this time he will get to do it in a role which combines his two passions – archaeology and teaching.

Natasha Leclerc

Photo: G. Wieners

Natasha is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto in Archaeology and will be starting her Master’s degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland in the fall where she will be studying shíshálh clam harvesting practices through isotope analysis. She was a member of the shíshálh Archaeology Project in 2013 and has been working on archaeological material from the project in the lab ever since. Natasha is excited to come back to Sechelt, this time, playing a bigger role in the project.

Gary Coupland

Photo: T. Clark

Gary is co-director of SARP and a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. After spending much of his career excavating archaeological sites in rainy Prince Rupert Harbour, the shift to the Sunshine Coast in 2008 was one of the best decisions Gary ever made.

Terry Clark

Photo: A. Holland

Terry is the director of SARP and works as Curator of Western Archaeology at the Canadian Museum of History. He recently served as Lead Curator for the exhibition the Greeks – Agamemnon to Alexander the Greek which is currently touring North America. Although working in Greece has been a great experience, Terry can’t wait to get back to digging in Sechelt.

In a future blog we’ll introduce of shíshálh team members. Stay tuned…