Directory

Kisha Supernant, PhD, MA, BA

Professor, Faculty of Arts - Anthropology Dept
Director, Faculty of Arts - Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology (IPIA)
Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology

Pronouns: she/her

Personal Website: https://www.kishasupernant.com/

Contact Overview

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Arts - Anthropology Dept
Email
supernan@ualberta.ca
Director, Faculty of Arts - Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology (IPIA)
Email
supernan@ualberta.ca
Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology
Email
ipiafoa@ualberta.ca
Address
1-42 Tory (H.M.) Building
11211 Saskatchewan Drive NW
Edmonton AB
T6G 2H4

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

Anthropological Archaeology Collaborative Archaeology Geographic Information System GIS in Archaeology Indigenous Archaeology Mapping Métis Archaeology Métis Identity Remote Sensing Social Geography Spatial Analysis

About

Kisha Supernant (Métis/Papaschase/British) is the Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology (IPIA) and a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. She completed her master’s degree in anthropology at the University of Toronto, and her PhD in anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

In her work, Supernant researches for and with — rather than on — Indigenous communities, bringing Indigenous ways of knowing to the archaeological forefront. She leads a collaborative archaeology project called Exploring Métis Identity Through Archaeology, which relates physical archaeological evidence to the Métis cultural landscape. Supernant is also a co-director of the Métis Kinscapes Project, which examines the relational links between the Métis and their ancestors, places, stories, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous nations and communities in Lac Ste. Anne, AB. As a co-investigator of the Cartographies of Deep Time project, Supernant views Tsimshian history in BC through an archaeological lens, while taking into account both Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews. Supernant also uses remote sensing technology to support Indigenous peoples in locating the unmarked burial sites of their relatives. In 2022, she was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Missing Children and Unmarked Graves. Most recently, Supernant joined one of seven research groups as part of an international project with the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The transdisciplinary project considers both Indigenous and western perspectives in examining how climate change-related challenges disproportionately affect Indigenous peoples and in understanding how to approach such challenges.

Supernant has received numerous accolades in recognition of her significant contributions to Indigenous anthropological archaeology. These include the Dorothy Killam Fellowship (2023), Faculty of Arts Award for Research Excellence - Professor (2023), Faculty of Arts Award for Research Excellence - Associate Professor (2019), and the Martha Cook Piper Research Prize (2018). In 2019, Supernant was recognized as one of Edmonton’s Top 40 under 40, and in 2021, was named to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. She currently serves on the board of the Indigenous Heritage Circle.

Research

Journal Articles (selection)

  • Wadsworth, W.T., S. Halmhofer, and K. Supernant. 2023. Saying What We Mean, Meaning What We Say: Managing Miscommunication in Archaeological Prospection. Archaeological Prospection. 1–16.
  • Gupta, N., A. Martindale., K. Supernant, and M. Elvidge. 2023. The CARE Principles and the Reuse, Sharing, and Curation of Indigenous Data in Canadian Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice. 11(1):76–89.
  • Montgomery, L. and K. Supernant. 2022. Archaeology in 2021: Repatriation, Reclamation, and Reckoning with Historical Trauma. American Anthropologist. 124:800–812.
  • Supernant, K. 2022. Archaeology Sits in Places. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 66.
  • Wadsworth, W., K. Supernant, Ave Dersch, and the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation. 2021. Integrating Remote Sensing and Indigenous Archaeology to Locate Unmarked Graves: A Case Study from Northern Alberta, Canada. Advances in Archaeological Practice. 9(3):202–214.
  • Wadsworth, W., K. Supernant, and V. Kravchinsky. An Integrated Remote Sensing Approach to Métis Archaeology in the Canadian Prairies. Archaeological Prospection. 28(3):321–337.
  • Kristensen, T., J. Ives, K. Supernant. Power, Security, and Exchange: Impacts of a Late Holocene Volcanic Eruption in Subarctic North America. North American Archaeologist. 42(4):425-472.
  • Supernant, K. 2020. Archaeological Pedagogy, Indigenous Histories, and Reconciliation in Canada. Journal of Archaeological Education. 4(3):1–22.
  • Hodgetts, L., K. Supernant, N. Lyons, and J.R. Welch. 2020. Broadening #MeToo: Tracking Dynamics in Canadian Archaeology Through a Survey on Experiences Within the Discipline. Canadian Journal of Archaeology. 44(1):20–47.

Edited Books

  • Surface-Evans, S., A. M. Garrison, and K. Supernant (eds). 2020. Blurring Timescapes, Subverting Erasure: Remembering Ghosts on the Margins of History. Berghahn: New York.
  • Supernant, K., J. Baxter, N. Lyons, and S. Atalay (eds). 2020. Archaeologies of the Heart. Springer: New York.

Reports

  • Supernant, K. 2020. Nodes, Networks, and Names: Narrative Report for Rupertsland Centre for Métis Research Fellowship. Report submitted to the Rupertsland Centre for Métis Research, University of Alberta.

Media Interviews