A B O U T  M E

Dr. Paulette Steeves

Ph.D. (Cree-Métis)

Indigenous Archeologist

Dr. Paulette Steeves. Ph.D. – (Cree-Métis) is an Indigenous archaeologist with a focus on the Pleistocene history of the Western Hemisphere. In her research, Steeves argues that Indigenous peoples were present in the Western Hemisphere as early as 100,000 years ago, and possibly much earlier. She has created a database of hundreds of archaeology sites in both North and South America that date from 250,000 to 12,000 years before present, which challenges the Clovis First dogma of a post 12,000 year before present initial migrations to the Americas.

She received her BA Honours Cum Laude in 2008 at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. In 2008 Dr. Steeves was awarded the Clifford D. Clark fellowship to attend graduate studies at Binghamton University in New York State and was awarded her Masters in Anthropology 2010, and Doctorate in Anthropology in 2015. During her doctoralstudies, she worked with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to carry out studies in the Great Plains on mammoth sites which contained evidence of human technology on the mammoth bone, thus showing that humans were present in Nebraska over 18,000 years ago. Dr. Steeves has taught Anthropology courses with a focus on Native American and First Nations histories and studies, and decolonization of academia and knowledge production at Binghamton University, Selkirk College Fort Peck Community College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Mount Allison University, she is Professor in Geography, Geology, and Land Stewardship at Algoma University, and Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Indigenous History: Healing and Reconciliation. 

Research Focus

My research focuses on Pleistocene-age archaeological sites and the Indigenous Paleolithic period prior to 11,200 years before the present (ybp) in the Western Hemisphere (the Americas). In my work to reclaim and rewrite Indigenous histories of the Western Hemisphere (WH), I have reviewed hundreds of archaeological site reports, visited archaeological sites, studied artifact collections, and compiled a database of hundreds of archaeological sites dated to before 11,200 years ago. In teaching and service work, I am dedicated to Indigenizing and decolonizing curriculum, pedagogy, and the academy. In reclaiming and rewriting Indigenous history, my research focuses on reconnecting Indigenous communities with their homelands, acknowledging oral histories, and creating pathways to healing and reconciliation. In research supporting First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Native American, and Indigenous communities, I compiled a database of residential schools and colonial institutions in Canada from 1620 to 1996. The database and maps are available on an educational website I created, crscid.com. In addressing food insecurity in urban and First Nations communities, I have recreated Terra Preta Indigenous soils in the North, with First Nations communities and community food farms and services. My teaching is centred on Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing, and my research is framed in Indigenous methods and theory.

Publications

For Dr. Steeves’ full list of books, book chapters, and journal articles, see the Publications page.

For grants and funding, academic and community service, and community research reports, see the Research & Service page.