Grant: College & Community Social Innovation Fund

This project involves the interweaving of Líĺwat oral histories with archaeological investigations of places that feature in those narratives. In this way, we aim to add materiality to oral histories and in turn enliven archaeological remains through their connections to the histories. Narratives are important for a community’s sense of identity, and the passing along of oral histories among the Líĺwat had a generations-long interruption, with the residential schools program actively suppressing the intergenerational transmission of such histories. Among the Líĺwat, the term for history is sqwélqwel, a term shared among the broader Salishan dialects, and it is recognized as having a role in the building of identity. It is for this reason, that we intend to integrate the oral histories with archaeology. Throughout, we also aim to understand how Líĺwat view their oral histories and ancestral places today. This project builds upon the foundation of an established collaboration between Douglas College and Lil'wat Nation. To meet our objectives, we will compile a database of oral histories from published and archival accounts, combined with their connections to place-names and sites. In collaborative discussions, we have identified storied places as a focus for our archaeological investigations. These efforts will involve surface mapping (for 3D visualization), the unearthing of structural features from ancestral istken or pithouses, and the collection of charcoal for radiocarbon dating; this will allow for a chronological understanding of a site’s initial occupation and later abandonment. This project will also feature community tours of the site, and presentations to the community after the analyses and interpretations are completed. Those events will also be opportunities to understand how the Líĺwat speak about their oral histories and their ancestral places. All results will be compiled for an atlas that shows Líĺwat territory through their place-names and storied events, along with a presentation of their archaeological chronology. In this way, we intend to build knowledge and add additional forms of evidence through archaeology about these ancestral places in their territory. Oral histories are not complete, and archaeological evidence is fragmentary, but with the integration of both, we can enhance the historical understandings of both, and add to Líĺwat sqwélqwel, history and identity.