Because of our own British colonial experience, many Australian historical
archaeologists have grown up understanding their material through the eyes of
the highly knowledgeable members of Parks Canada's digging and laboratory teams.

I am sad because that international connection was a constant reminder that
we are a global enterprise and one country's researches can inform directly
about others.

SHA should ask the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology and other
kindred organisations for support in explaining how Parks Canada's
archaeological work was of international importance and reach.

I'm sure the sympathies of all historical archaeologists go out to those who
have lost their jobs or whose work conditions placed under threat.

Denis Gojak










On Sun, May 20th, 2012 at 1:10 AM, Karlis Karklins <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello HistArchers!
> 
> I have some really sad news to report.
> 
> The results of Stephen Harper's Conservative government's recently
> announced budget cuts are now clear and historical archaeology in Canada
> has been dealt a mortal blow.
> 
> Effective in about four months, all the regional labs will be closed with
> the artifacts being packed and shipped to Ottawa. Unfortunately, there is
> really no place for them there nor the staff to deal with the huge amount
> of material. It is also unclear who will do the packing as lab personnel
> have been sacked. There will certainly be no staff to unpack the material
> which will henceforth not be available to researchers.
> 
> Most regions will now have but one archaeologist to deal with all the
> sites
> in their region.
> 
> The once productive Material Culture Research Section in Ottawa
> that churned out hundreds of useful research reports has been completely
> cut with all five remaining researchers being handed their walking
> papers.
> 
> What a loss of research skills and knowledge!
> 
> Fortunately, the Underwater Archaeology Section headquartered in
> Ottawa remains untouched as they do much research in the Arctic and
> Arctic
> Sovereignty is a priority with the Harper government.
> 
> The Society for Historical Archaeology and the Canadian Archaeological
> Association are in the process of preparing an official statement
> concerning the travesty outlined above and other organizations and
> individuals have already done so but will this have any effect? Is there
> anything that can be done to save the federal archaeology program in
> Canada?
> 
> 
> Parks Canada archaeology may be likened to a person who has just
> undergone
> major intrusive surgery and the vital signs are far from stable. Can
> anything be done to save the patient???
> 
> Karlis
> 
> PS For an excellent synthesis of the Parks Canada archaeology cuts, see
> the
> Elfshot blog's Summary of Archaeology Cuts at
> http://elfshotgallery.blogspot.ca/
> 
> 
>