posted January 06, 2023
5 Years Makes All the Difference: Documenting and Monitoring Change to Heritage on Qikiqtaruk - With Katelyn O'Keefe
Are you curious about archaeology, natural science, or palaeontology? You’re in luck! Beringia Centre Science Talks are back for a 4th season.
This week we're speaking with archaeologist Katelyn O'Keefe about her work on the Yukon's only Arctic island, Qikiqtaruk (aka Herschel Island.)
The heritage features on Qikiqtaruk represent a lengthy period of occupation, from eight hundred years ago to the present. At Pauline Cove, the island's most culturally significant area, these features include Inuvialuit sod houses and buildings associated with the commercial whaling period, fur trade, missionaries, and the RCMP. Increased coastal erosion and more frequent flooding events associated with a changing climate are putting these features at risk.
This talk has two parts. In the first part, Katelyn will discuss the use of multi-year drone imagery (2017 and 2019) to detect change to the landscape and to the heritage features on Qikiqtaruk, and how this information can be used towards a heritage monitoring strategy. In the second part, she'll summarize further work completed in June of 2022, which includes the partial excavation of an eroding Inuvialuit sod house as well as the collection of additional drone imagery.
Join us LIVE on Facebook on Thursday January 12, 2023 @ 11 am MST. Click here to go to the Facebook event. Can't watch on Facebook? Email us (beringia@yukon.ca) for a link to the Zoom call.