'The Royal Ontario Museum, they couldn’t possibly carry all the stuff that’s dug up in Ontario,' says archeologist Lawrence Jackson.The Globe and Mail
About a hundred boxes line the walls of archeologist Lawrence Jackson’s office. They are filled with everything from arrow and spear points, stone adzes, axes and gouges. There are even pieces of ornate ceramics dating back as far as 800 BC.
Dr. Jackson has unearthed all of these artifacts in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario, accumulating them over his 40-year career.
“We’re surrounded by it – wall to wall,” he said, describing his office in Port Hope, Ont.
But he’s running out of room in the 500-square-foot space from which he works as a consulting archeologist, and he doesn’t have anywhere else for the artifacts to go.
Dr. Jackson is one of many archeologists in Ontario who say they’re facing a crisis when it comes to the safe storage of unearthed artifacts.
The provincial government requires that properties that meet certain criteria – such as being situated close to water or having a historical significance – must be surveyed by a qualified archeologist before new construction can occur. Increased development in the province means private contractors such as Dr. Jackson are busier than ever.
But a lack of accessible storage facilities means some of the artifacts they find are ending up in garages, spare bedrooms and sometimes in the landfill.
Dr. Jackson is a board member of the Ontario Association of Professional Archeologists, which recently sent an open letter to Michael Ford, Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, asking for the provincial government to enter into discussions with First Nations and professional archeologists to “ensure that cultural heritage values and respect are maintained.”
Dr. Jackson said he uncovers artifacts at about one in every six sites he surveys and that most of what he finds are objects belonging to Indigenous people.
Licences issued to consulting archeologists state that unearthed artifacts should be held in trust for the people of Ontario, meaning that the burden of storing these items lies with individual archeologists.
Even if that burden wasn’t placed on individuals, provincially funded organizations also lack space to keep these items.
“The Royal Ontario Museum, they couldn’t possibly carry all the stuff that’s dug up in Ontario,” Dr. Jackson said.
He said the First Nations he works with often lack storage space of their own.
An increasing concern for those in the professional community is that as archeologists age and pass away, they leave their collections to their next of kin, who may not have the knowledge or resources to store them.
“We have a small consulting community in Northern Ontario, and some of them are my age or even older, and they’ve got spare bedrooms full of artifacts,” said Scott Hamilton, a 68-year-old archeologist and an anthropology professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.
Prof. Hamilton said that in the mid-1970s, the province started to build regional archeology offices in cities, such as Kenora, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, whose role it was to manage heritage policy, among other things. These offices would also store artifacts brought in by consulting archeologists.
But these facilities slowly closed as staff retired and were not replaced.
Other storage facilities exist within the province such as Sustainable Archeology McMaster and the Museum of Ontario Archeology. However, archeologists must pay a fee for every box they store there. Prof. Hamilton says that the one-time fees range from $232 to $400 a box, something that is unfeasible for many consultants who run small businesses.
And Julie Kapyrka, consultation co-ordinator and archeologist with Alderville First Nation, said it’s unclear whether such facilities are taking care of Indigenous artifacts in a culturally appropriate way.
“It seems to be very Western-style stacks of banker’s boxes on rows of shelves in very sterile dark rooms,” she said. “There’s certain artifacts that do need care in terms of being fed, seeing the light of day, seeing the air, the rain.”
She is also concerned with the way these artifacts are removed from the communities to which they belong.
“One of the most profound things I ever heard from a past co-worker of mine, she said to me one day: ‘Why do we have to travel to Toronto to visit our ancestors’ belongings?’ ” Dr. Kapyrka said, referring to the First Nations artifacts housed at the Royal Ontario Museum.
While Ontario is not the only province where the burden of storage lies with individual consulting archeologists, more sustainable systems exist in provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia where items can be stored without any fees for individual archeologists.
Kyle Forsythe is the curator of archeology at the Royal Alberta Museum. He says the museum is home to more than 12 million archeological artifacts, acting as a central repository for all unearthed artifacts in the province, including those dug up by consulting archeologists.
“At any point down the line, if someone wants to look at specific collections or specific artifacts, they’re able to access those. And ultimately, what we’re doing is we’re stewarding these collections into perpetuity on behalf of the public of Alberta,” said Dr. Forsythe, noting that artifacts can be lent to other museums, universities and First Nations.
British Columbia has approximately 60 repositories and art or history museums that collect items unearthed by consulting archeologists, according to Achinie Wijesinghe, director of archeology at A.E.W. LP, an Indigenous-owned and -operated consulting agency.
The province has rigorous cataloging requirements and requires that the chain of custody of these items be recorded before they are stored.
Chief Taynar Simpson of Alderville First Nation in Roseneath, Ont., co-signed the open letter. He said he appreciates the systems B.C. and Alberta have developed. But he said he would prefer Ontario fund First Nations communities so that items belonging to the ancestors of his people of Alderville First Nation could be on display at home.
“It’s always been a dream of ours to kind of be able to house that. But again, there’s those roadblocks, and there’s a lack of funding,” he said.
In an e-mailed statement, a spokesperson for Mr. Ford said the letter has been received and the points within it will be considered.
The spokesperson added that the ministry considers all feedback received with respect to any future changes to the archeological collections’ framework, though, they made no mention of any plans to update the framework.