We Have Always Been Here (Blackfoot language version)

This is a Blackfoot language translation of an episode of Artifactuality from our first season. Western research has long offered theories about Indigenous lands, peoples and histories. Its colonial biases have often diminished and denied the traditions, stories, and even the continued existence of Indigenous Peoples. For the Blackfoot of southwestern Alberta, there is no doubt: their people, stories, songs and ceremonies have always been here.

Curator Gabriel Yanicki talks with Blackfoot Elders and Knowledge Keepers Kent Ayoungman, Velma Crowshoe, Stan Knowlton and Jerry Potts. They discuss tensions between Western and Indigenous worldviews and the changing relationship between archaeology and traditional Indigenous knowledge. Dr. Leroy Little Bear talks about the Blackfoot concept of time and compares it with Western, scientific perspectives.