Compiled and edited by Tom Andrews, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre

The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC), a Division of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Government of the Northwest Territories, is responsible for managing and protecting the archaeological resources of the NWT.  Representing a continuous human occupation stretching back over 7000 years, archaeological sites are fragile and non-renewable and are protected from disturbance by legislation, regulation, and policy in the NWT. There are currently about 5300 archaeological sites recorded in the NWT, though this number represents only a small fraction of the actual number of existing sites, as large areas remained unexplored for archaeological resources.  A large part of our work at the PWNHC involves reviewing land use and development permit applications.  We currently review, on average, 300 permits per year, providing advice to 11 land management authorities.

Twenty-two archaeological research permits were issued to 9 archaeologists for work in the NWT in 2004.   Five of these permits (2004-944, 2004-946, 2004-957, 2004-959, 2004-960) were cancelled at the request of the permit holder and no work was conducted under their authority. Of the 17 permits remaining, 14 were for projects related to resource development impact assessment.   Oil and gas development in the Mackenzie Delta, along the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline route, and in the Sahtu region, along with ongoing diamond exploration in the region north and east of Yellowknife continue to be dominant factors in driving archaeological research in the NWT.