Poster Subject: Historical Archaeology

Poster Title: African Enslavement within Newfoundland and Saint Pierre et Miquelon: A Postcolonial Exploration of Historical Oversight

Bio: My name is Anna Pugh and I am a first-year Master's student in the archaeology department under supervisors Drs. Catherine Losier and Barry Gaulton. Coming from the West Coast of the US, I am new to the island of Newfoundland and dove into my upcoming research as I found parallels to systems of erasure within the US. My prospective research attempts to provide a more realistic and complex analysis of the enslaved labor forces working within the context of the North Atlantic fishery as alienated through systemic erasure. Through a decolonial lens, methods to be employed include conducting primarily archival research, a review of secondary source literature, and a targeted assessment/re-assessment of archaeological collections and/or objects.

Abstract: The aim of this poster is to expand upon the history and evidence of enslavement within Newfoundland and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon throughout the 17th-19th centuries. Decolonial methods will be employed include conducting primarily archival research, a review of secondary source literature, and a targeted assessment/re-assessment of archaeological collections and/or objects. Through these processes, the goal is to reconstruct the narrative of enslavement back into documented popular Canadian history. A decolonial and Afrocentric reexamination of African diaspora in transitory/permanent fishery spaces and historical documentation representative of marginalizing power structures can reinsert the reality of enslavement and restore dignity from silencing dominant narratives. With recent acknowledgements and rising accounts of enslaved persons within Newfoundland and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon in their early history, this research attempts to provide a more realistic and complex analysis of the enslaved labor forces of North Atlantic fisheries alienated through systemic erasure. 

Corresponding Author's Email: ajpugh@mun.ca