Archaeology, Participatory Democracy and Social Justice in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Memorial University, located in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, was created in 1925 to help build a better future for the people of Canada’s easternmost province, whose largely rural fishing communities were rapidly transforming through industrialization and urbanization. Mandated by a “special obligation to the people of the province,” university archaeologists embraced applied, community-based projects which encouraged local solutions to the social and economic issues arising from the transformation to modernity. Today, community archaeology remains integral to our research program and the majority of our research is undertaken in partnership with rural and Indigenous populations who continue to be marginalized both geographically and economically. Two case studies describe how archaeological resources are being used to promote economic and social justice, as well as reconciliation, and how archaeology has the potential to make valuable local contributions that change lives in the present.