Last week on Wild Archaeology, Jenifer missed out on all of the diving fun because she’d returned home to prepare for her community’s PowWow. This week, Dr. Rudy and Jacob met up with Jenifer in Serpent River First Nation, and we got to tag along.
First, they visited Chief Isadore Day, who spoke to the role Jenifer and the series are playing in the process of healing for Indigenous people living in Canada.
“I am really excited that you are doing things that for a lot of years our young people could only dream about. I really attribute these traditional gatherings as a way to bring healing to our people and to give our young people a sense of pride and give them the direction that they need… That begins to give a sense of liberation and freedom and that is the healing that the young people are grasping today,” Day said.
After spending some time enjoying the PowWow, and learning first-hand about the traditions from the elders and community leaders in Jenifer’s home, the series headed to a quartzite quarry in Sheguiandah, on Manitoulin Island. It is believed that a tool made at this quarry more than 10,000 years ago is the same tool found at the site of Jacob’s dive last week. This would indicate that materials were traded around the upper Great Lakes for more that 10,000 years. Jacob and Jenifer also received a quick lesson in flint knapping.
Tuesday’s episode departed from the format that had been established in previous ones; in it we learned more about the cultural aspects that characterize communities in Ontario. It was fantastic getting to hear Chief Day’s comments as they pertain to the healing young Indigenous people are undergoing thanks to the efforts of programs such as Wild Archaeology.
Artifact Tally
Jenifer: Quartzite Endscraper from 8-10,000 years ago
Jacob: nothing
Wild Archaeology airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. ET on APTN.