Pitqusiqtigun Nautchiuqtuat

Cultural Resource Monitoring

Inuvialuit have been present in what is now TuktutNogait National Park for so long that at some sites there are different styles of tent rings right next to each other—big heavy cobbles or lighter stones—showing that the same location was used by many generations.

There are over 400 known archaeological sites in Tuktut Nogait National Park. Most of these are beside the large rivers that act as water-roads into the interior (Hornaday, Little Hornaday, Brock, and Roscoe). You can see tent rings, caches, drive lines, hunting blinds, meat drying and processing areas, and marker stones. Some of the sites are small, like a single cache on a hillside, and some are very large with many features, like a camp with many tent rings. We can envisage Inuvialuit occupying single tents or staying together in a big camp.

The first step in cultural resource monitoring is to locate the site using a handheld GPS and a written description. We then identify the features (tent rings, hearths, etc.) and check they are in the same condition as the last time they were recorded. There are very few visitors to Tuktut Nogait National Park so disturbances are only from natural processes, like siksik burrowing or wind erosion. The next step is to make a digital map of the site using the handheld digital mapper. We also use our notebook and a paper form to make notes and a sketch map. The final step is to take photos of the features and site location. Cultural resource monitoring is essentially photographing, recording map points and making notes—nothing is taken away or moved around.

The best part of doing cultural resource monitoring in Tuktut Nogait National Park is picturing what Inuvialuit were doing at that exact spot many, many years in the past and what the site may have looked like full of activity.

After the river trip is finished the recorded information is processed and organised. A report is written about the work done and the condition of the cultural resources visited, and is shared with the Tuktut Nogait National Park Management Board. A presentation is also made to the board at one of their meetings. All the data, photographs and notes are available for creating educational kits, for cultural camps or other community programs, and for guiding further research and park management. Anyone can contact the parks Canada office in Paulatuuq to learn more about the trips and the work done.

The archaeological sites in Tuktut Nogait National Park remain untouched and in place—a reminder that Inuvialuit, since time immemorial, are still reaching forward through the generations to tell their stories.