Tel: 778.782.5403 • Fax: 778.782.5666 • Email: dlepofsk@sfu.ca
General Research Interests
I am interested in the in the social and ecological impacts of past human interactions with their environment. My recent research focuses on complex hunter-gatherers of the Pacific Northwest of North America, particularly within the Coast Salish region of British Columbia, and also the Maohi chiefdoms of the Society Islands of French Polynesia. I incorporate diverse technical and methodological approaches in my research, including household archaeology, regional survey, paleoethnobotany, and detailed paleoecological studies. My recognition of the value of different disciplines and kinds of knowledge has led me to believe strongly in multi-disciplinary and collaborative research. My research program has been strengthened considerably by my association with other archaeologists, paleoecologists, neoecologists, geomorphologists, and experts in First Nations traditional knowledge.
Current Research Programs
For the past several years, my research has focused on the Fraser Valley Archaeological Project (FVAP), a project designed to explore shifting interactions and changing social identities among the Stó:lo First Nation. We did this by integrating archaeological evidence with that from historical documents, oral accounts, ethnographic sources, and archival and current information on place names. The results of our project are currently being written up in various Masters and PhD theses and academic papers. In 2009, we presented some of the results of our project in a large session at the Society for American Archaeology conference in Vancouver (FVAP SAA Posters (2008)).
My current research has taken me outside of the Fraser Valley, to the beautiful Sunshine Coast. There, John Welch and I are working with Tla’amin First Nation in a multi-year collaborative heritage program (Malaspina Complex and Sunshine Coast Field School). A major component of our research involves documenting traditional resource management strategies with archaeological evidence, oral historical knowledge, and modern ecological evidence. Our team is composed of marine ecologists, fisheries biologists, archaeologists, ethnographers, and Tla’amin cultural experts. We are locating and mapping “ancient sea gardens” (fish traps, clam gardens) and associated settlements, and coring associated middens to understand how these features were used. We are particularly interested in applying our findings to the modern management of culturally and biologically important species (e.g., herring, clams) — many of which are currently threatened due to poor management.
More links: http://www.sliammonfirstnation.com/archaeology/index.html