Archaeology and local governments: the perspectives of First Nations and municipal councillors in the Fraser Valley, B.C.

Local governments are in a position to act as bridges between the publics they represent and the management of archaeological heritage. Since First Nations and municipal councillors in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, make decisions on behalf of their communities, I focus this thesis on their perspectives of archaeology. Through surveying and interviewing local government representatives, seven key themes emerged: Relevance, Knowledge, Interest and Exposure, Value, Protection Issues, Management Responsibility, and Working Together. First Nations and municipal councillors’ perspectives reveal general areas of divergence on the relevance, protection, and management of archaeological heritage, and convergence on the values of archaeology and working together on heritage issues. Although local governments uniquely situate archaeology through distinct views, they can bridge this disconnect through dialogue on shared perspectives. I provide recommendations to encourage this process of communication between First Nations and municipal governments, and their publics, on the management of archaeological heritage.