The questions of when and how human beings entered North America endure as keystone themes of Quaternary science. Although intrinsically archaeological questions, addressing them has spurred significant advances in many social and natural science disciplines for over a century, inquiry of human dispersal into and within the North American landscape also provides a space where Indigenous ways of knowing and scientific principles can intertwine, although this remains a developing practice.

These epistemological connections mirror the geographic, cultural, and biological connections observed in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene archaeological record. What appeared to be a simple story of ice age journeys between two ice sheets has turned into a complex web that ties Asia to America, coast to interior, and most importantly, humans to each other. These bonds also resonate through time, ranging from scientific, narrative, and spiritual pasts into the studies and stories of today.

The aim of this session is to examine the entry of humans into North America and the legacy of that arrival. Studies from archaeological, Indigenous, anthropological, geoscientific, paleoenvironmental, genomic, historic, and any other relevant perspectives are welcome.

Whether in passing or on a daily basis, the spaces that we engage with hold many stories about the past. These stories may be beneath the ground, held in memory, or even hidden in plain sight. This session explores how people remember, rediscover, and recreate heritage landscapes, as well as the landscapes’ history and significance. In North America, when background research suggests that a location is culturally significant, archaeologists, especially those in CRM, may excavate to find, collect, and record artifacts and features that the landscape may have hidden beneath its surface. However, using a shovel and trowel to rediscover the heritage landscape simply scratches the surface of what can be learned. Archival studies and digital technologies offer additional ways to rediscover the community and individual histories held within heritage landscapes and recreate what the heritage landscape may have previously looked like. Additionally, the growing emphasis on descendant and community engagement through individuals’ memories or oral histories adds a human element that is essential for a more holistic understanding of the heritage landscapes. Interdisciplinary methods can help answer questions about heritage landscapes hidden in plain sight, such as repurposed or ruined buildings, or in places where excavation is highly intrusive, such as cemeteries.

Contributions that consider novel ways to retell, rediscover, and recreate heritage landscapes are welcome. Potential themes could include: How are different technologies and practices being used to rediscover and record heritage landscapes? In what ways are heritage landscapes narrated and remembered by communities? How are heritage landscapes being protected, incorporated, or recreated using various technologies?

Although provincial and territorial regulation of archaeological practice varies across the country there is a consistent thread. Where and when these government laws, regulations, and policies fall short, other entities step up. This session explores the different facets of alternative archaeological oversight and service delivery. Examples may include: municipal planning and partnerships, Indigenous heritage stewardship, and service-oriented CRM. Across Canada, localized progressive solutions are bumping the needle towards better archaeological resource management outcomes. One of these outcomes includes early adoption of the principles of the United Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) even as most conventional governments drag their feet towards UNDRIP implementation. The objective of this session is to inspire similar unconventional activities capable of supplementing, transcending or subverting conventional archaeological regulation.