2. Materialities and Identity

Rebeading Relations through Indigenous Archaeology

What is an artifact? ​Archaeologists study artifacts as a primary source of data about the past, including the belongings of Indigenous ancestors. These belongings, however, are not static objects; they are part of our relations as living Indigenous peoples. What changes when we consider artifacts not as objects, but as relatives? How might this change our practices?


In 2017, my team uncovered a piece of beadwork at an Métis archaeological site in Saskatchewan. This remarkable find has taught me what it means to be a good relation to the belongings of the ancestors as part of a practice of wâhkôhtowin. For me, caring for the belongings of my relatives means asking where they should live in the present so they can continue to be part of our relations in the future. Current practice dictates that this relative must be sent to a museum and be cared for following certain curatorial guidelines that were not established by Métis people. Is this the right home for my relative? Or is there another way to care for our ancestors belongings?

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Written by: Kisha Supernant

Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology Director, Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology

University of Alberta

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A pattern of red and blue-green beads exposed from the earth on the ground surface
Intact Métis beadwork pattern recovered from the Métis wintering site at Chimney Coulee, Saskatchewan.
A section of earth containing the patterned beadwork sitting in a box beside a cloth bag with a colourful geometric pattern
Beadwork pattern pictured with medicines from Dr. Kisha Supernant and Métis artist Krista Leddy in ​amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta).