Award Information
This historical archaeology project examines the missionization (Moravian presence 1772-1995) and militarization (US Military presence 1951-1968) of Hopedale, Nunatsiavut, the Inuit self-governing region of Labrador, Canada. My research focuses on the recent past (1900-present) in order to illuminate the structural and contemporary aspects of colonial occupation, and the historical nature of Inuit sovereignty. This project will explore the ways that these occupations reconfigured the land-, sea- and icescape, and the ways that Inuit used land-, sea- and icescape practices to resist and refuse these occupations. Through 12 months of ethnographic, archaeological, and archival research, this project will: 1) provide insight into multiple forms of colonial power that have operated in the circumpolar north; 2) historicize both shifting landscapes in the age of the "Anthropocene"/climate change and Inuit sovereignty through a study of evolving landscape practices; and 3) trace and interrogate archival constructions of Nunatsiavut landscapes through a politically-attentive analysis of land-, sea- and icescapes.