My experience in the Broken Group was one I will never forget. Firstly, the scenery was amazing. I have lived in Southern Vancouver Island my entire life, yet the landscape never fails to take my breath away. The forested islands coated in a foggy haze left me with a sense of mystical awe. It was humbling to remember this was the territory of the Tseshaht First Nation and I had the privilege of working here for two weeks. The commute to our work site on Jaques Island from Nettle Island was unreal. Never before could I say that every morning I had to boat amongst tree covered islands to get to work. The work itself was interesting to do. I have never done a field school before, so everything was brand new to me. I enjoyed the hands-on experience and got used to being dirty often. Learning how to properly go about digging a site was valuable and I hope to use that information in the future. Certain aspects of digging up a site were more interesting than others and the crew I worked with certainly helped make this experience a fun one. I was lucky to work with funny, easy-going people that hardly ever created conflict. There were days when motivation was at a low (due to weather etc.), but for the most part everyone still worked hard and pulled their weight. Although I spent a good portion of my day with those in my unit, the group as a whole became quite close. I feel as though we all created a bond that will only become stronger as time goes on. We are like a family unit that looks out for one another.
This bond is what kept me going on days that presented various frustrations or particular tiredness. Everyone’s good nature and sense of humour made working fun no matter what. I do not think I would have enjoyed my experience as much if I did not have such awesome people to work with. Our downtime was just as entertaining as our workday. Going for a swim before dinner or playing games before bedtime were just a few activities I will look back on fondly. However, there were moments when people did not always mesh cohesively. Luckily, even when tensions were running a little high there were never any fights and things got worked out quickly. This experience as a whole taught me quite a few valuable things. First off, it taught me that I can work with just about anybody and things will work out just fine. Secondly, I learned to truly appreciate where I am. I think too many people forget that we are surrounded by cultures that are not talked about often enough. Lastly, I learned a great deal about what it means to be an archaeologist, not only about the work itself but also the impact it can have on others. I found it inspirational how grateful the Tseshaht were to us for helping them recover more of their history. That is something I admire most about archaeological research. Overall, this experience was well worth it. I am walking out of this more knowledgeable in more ways than one, and I have great memories to look back on.