Indigenous-plant relationships and agriculture
2022 – present
Pot sherd residue documentation
I have worked on two projects in Canada as a microbotanical analyst to document plant food residues cooked and stored in Indigenous pot sherds from Treaty 4 territory and Ohròn:wakon (Hamilton, Ontario). I use non-destructive sampling strategies and prioritize writing community reports prior to academic publications.
These projects make significant knowledge contributions toward Canadian archaeology to better understand Indigenous foodways prior to and during colonization, and to identify and communicate best practices for collaborative archaeology concerning Indigenous belongings and colonial institutions (e.g., museums). When possible, I aim to co-interpret this archaeological data using Two-Eyed Seeing (Mi'kmaw concept Etuaptmumk) with Indigenous colleagues, scholars, archaeologists, and descendant community members.
Publications and Reports
Collaborations
Collaborative Archaeologies; Decolonized Foodways (CADF)
Beginning in 2022, I worked as a Research Assistant on the CADF project to document food residues present in Indigenous pot sherds. These pots sherds are held at Sustainable Archaeology McMaster and were excavated around the Ohròn:wakon area (Hamilton, Ontario) from the 1960s - present. Using a non-destructive approach I retrieved phytoliths and starch grains from the pot sherd surfaces, revealing ancestral Indigenous cuisine practices from this area (publication in preparation).
Bridge-to-Land-Water-Sky Living Lab
From 2023 to 2025 I worked as a Living Skies Postdoctoral Fellow with the BTLWS Living Lab at the University of Saskatchewan. My role focused on Indigenous agriculture on the northern plains prior to European colonization using innovative archaeological science approaches.
