Ever wonder why we live the way we do?

In this British Columbia First People’s (BCFP) project we learned about anthropology and how it connects to Indigenous people within BC.

Before we begin learning about the project, let’s define what anthropology is.

Anthropology is the study of human societies, cultures, and development over time.

This includes the 4 different branches that we learned about.

Biological

• Evolutionary aspects of humans
• Examining fossils, genetics, and anatomy
• Human biology and how populations adapt to different environments

Cultural

• The study of human Cultures, beliefs, practices, customs, rituals, and social structures
• Often employed by observation, participation, and ethnographic fieldwork
• Cultural understanding and positive social change

Linguistic

• Study of human language and communication
• How language is shaped by interactions and cultural practices
• How language changes and evolves over time

Archaeology

• Analysis of material remains, including artifacts, structures, and environmental data.
• Excavations to dig and document layers of soil to uncover artifacts
• History, geology, chemistry, and biology are used to interpret this evidence

With our driving question and now our previous knowledge,

“How might we use an anthropological perspective to better understand the history of British Columbia?”

Let’s DIG in!

After we gained our knowledge on this we started having discussions in class to learn about everyone’s perspectives.

Then we all went onto the Museum of Anthropology’s (MOA) website and started looking at indigenous artifacts that were found in British Columbia. After some deciding I found one that stood out to me.

As you probably know I LOOOVE the ocean and everything to do with it, the animals, mystical creatures, and the ocean itself. So, when I stumbled upon this artifact I just knew I wanted to learn more.

MOA described it like this:

Since they almost talked about a female marine creature, I knew I needed to find out more! And so I did…

We then analyzed our artifacts and did an assignment to understand them more, here is what I have done in craft. Click here if you would like to learn more.

Then we created a group document on craft that everyone could add their artifact information to, this was made so we could create an “online museum.” I found that I really liked this idea because then we got to learn about many different artifacts and what other people were interested in. I added more information here and I’m so pleased with how it turned out.

To see more about my artifact click here.

If you would like to see what others have created click here.

I thought this project was very interesting because I got to dive deeper into an artifact but I also got the chance to dive deeper into the Haida nation. This specifically interested me because this year PLP 11 is going on a trip to Haida Gwaii! Learning about this artifact gave me the chance to explore more about this nation in an approach I would have never thought about. If you keep up with my posts you will get to hear more about this amazing opportunity… so stay tuned!