Susan Blair

Rewriting New Brunswick’s Past
February 16, 2011, 7:00 pm, Government House, 51 Woodstock Road

When we picture our region’s deep past, do our collective understandings reflect the evidence?  History textbooks emphasize the view that the region’s first peoples were simply organized, scattered nomads who lived lives isolated on the periphery of developments happening elsewhere in North America. This talk examines how these understandings form, and how new information is emerging to challenge these views with a vision of a past that is dynamic, engaged, sophisticated, rich, and enduring.

Susan Blair is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. Her work is in the area of pre-contact archaeology in north eastern North America with particular interest in ancient technology and manufacturing. She is also engaged in exploring the processes involved in community-driven research and indigenous archaeology.