Latest news with #culturallandscape
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
UCalgary students turn Edworthy Park into archaeological dig site
University of Calgary students are learning out at one of the city's parks, and hope to give Calgarians a glimpse into a past right under their feet. University of Calgary students are learning out at one of the city's parks, and hope to give Calgarians a glimpse into a past right under their feet. A partnership between the city and students from the University of Calgary is digging up a piece of the city's past. For two weeks, the students have been digging, sifting and sweeping an area of Edworthy Park in the southwest. Bit by bit, layer by layer, they're looking to uncover pieces of history. 'Archeological resources are part of a cultural landscape, and they tell a story that most citizens and visitors are unaware of,' said Laureen Bryant, the city's cultural landscape planner. In what is now a dog park, the team is mapping out a stone circle of what is potentially a ceremonial or homestead site. So far, they've uncovered what's believed to be a bison bone and several pieces of old stone tools. 'I've grown up here, and just knowing that my roots come directly from the past and just... it's really intriguing and cool,' said Taren Crowchief, an archaeological research assistant. University of Calgary students are learning out at one of the city's parks, and hope to give Calgarians a glimpse into a past right under their feet. University of Calgary students are learning out at one of the city's parks, and hope to give Calgarians a glimpse into a past right under their feet. Crowchief is a member of Siksika Nation and says he was drawn to the work to gain a better understanding of where he comes from. 'I have a really big love for archeology, and just everything that this does is just intriguing. It has helped me see my history and the past and just everything about Alberta a lot differently,' he said. Edworthy Park was settled in the 1880s, and markets, quarries and farming covered the area. But its history goes far beyond that, with Indigenous peoples using the land for hunting and camping. 'That stone circle has been known since the 1970s, but there's never been any additional work here or additional subsurface testing,' explained Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer, a University of Calgary archaeology professor. 'We don't know how old this site is, but we do know that within the city of Calgary, there are sites that stretch back from the contact period, Fort Calgary, all the way back (8,000 or) 9,000 years,' she said. University of Calgary students are learning out at one of the city's parks, and hope to give Calgarians a glimpse into a past right under their feet. University of Calgary students are learning out at one of the city's parks, and hope to give Calgarians a glimpse into a past right under their feet. This is the second year of the partnership, and last year's dig was at Nose Hill Park. The work at Edworthy Park will continue into the first week of June, and Calgarians are encouraged to observe the dig and ask the students questions.
Mail & Guardian
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mail & Guardian
SIHLE HLOPHE: Challenging stereotypes about working mothers
'Children are a contribution, not a disruption': Sihle Hlophe. In an economy driven by deadlines and bottom lines, it's easy to overlook the invisible labour of motherhood. Yet for women like Sihle Hlophe, a filmmaker, mother, and storyteller, the definitions of value and productivity are being rewritten. Sihle is shaping the cultural landscape with her art and reframing traditional economic narratives that have undervalued the contributions of mothers. 'We've been told that doing what is natural to me as a woman, will affect my bank account. It's almost framed in a negative way in a capitalistic society — something that will be an inconvenience and affect productivity.' For her, identity is layered, and motherhood doesn't need to impede career ambition. 'Having a child is not a disruption,' Sihle adds. 'It's a contribution.' 'My mom was a teacher. She taught me how to read from a young age before I went to school, and also, she really nurtured my imagination,' she recalls. 'She encouraged me to see the magic in small things. She'd say, 'Look at these Rice Krispies: snap, crackle and pop. They're going to pop out of here!'' That influence now fuels a career spent exploring the human experience on screen. 'It's my inner child that comes out to play when I'm creating.' As an independent filmmaker, Sihle contributes to a creative industry that is both culturally vital and economically significant. According to the National Film and Video Foundation, South Africa's film industry is projected to generate R5.2 billion by 2025, and it supports thousands of jobs. But that economic contribution isn't limited to measurable outputs like box office numbers. It includes the less visible, unquantified emotional labour, caregiving, and community-building that mothers like Sihle navigate daily. 'When it comes to telling stories, obviously I am fascinated with the human condition and with what motivates us to do the things we do as human beings,' she says. Still, breaking through entrenched norms is no easy feat. 'Women are bombarded with all these negative messages that either we don't know how to create wealth … or that we won't be able to be mothers and be happy and be creative and productive and do all the things we want to do,' she reflects. That narrative serves an economic system that rarely accommodates, let alone celebrates, motherhood. But by living a different reality, Sihle offers a counter-narrative: that creativity, motherhood, and economic contribution can coexist — not in spite of each other, but because of each other. It's no coincidence that she agreed to this feature after seeing another woman directing while eight months pregnant. That image — a woman commanding a set while carrying life inside her — wasn't just symbolic. It was economic subversion. 'It speaks to the fact that giving birth doesn't have to affect my bank account,' Sihle says, 'That belief takes away from the beauty of the divine feminine and the magic of creating life.' In reclaiming that magic, Sihle and others like her are also reclaiming value: cultural, personal, and financial. So when she appears in front of the camera, often more comfortable behind it, it's not just for the shot. It's a statement. That she belongs. That mothers belong.
