Archaeological Potential Along the Lower Mackenzie River,
N.W.T.
by
Luc Nolin
and
Jean-Luc Pilon
Canadian Museum
of Civilization
It could be argued that the Mackenzie River is
likely one of the most archaeologically talked about rivers in the
Americas. Who has not heard of the theory that the "Mackenzie Corridor"
as the passage through which the First Nations gained access to the
continent. But our knowledge of the human history along its shores has
made one archaeologist wonder if the Mackenzie was not a "river to
nowhere" (Clark 1983).
During the course of the NOGAP
Archaeology Project's work in the lower Mackenzie Valley, most of our
energies were focussed on the interior region east of Inuvik known as
the southwest Anderson Plain. However, some very considerable efforts
were spent conducting surveys along the Mackenzie, and substantial
excavations were undertaken at the settlement of Tsiigehtchic.
These two sources of archaeological
information, coupled with traditional knowledge recounted by Gwich'in
elders, lead us to suggest that most of the ambiguity that
archaeologists harbour about the river does not result so much from its
prehistory as much as with its characteristics which make work along its
shores so very difficult. In our assessment of the existing
archaeological data, we believe that the potential is much greater than
previously thought, but the rewards can only come after significant
investments of time and energy.
This analysis was originally published in "Bridges Across Time: The
NOGAP Archaeology Project", Edited by Jean-Luc Pilon. Occasional Paper
No.2, Canadian Archaeological Association, Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada. It has been organized into the following sections:
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