Tag: RETROactive Live

RETROactive Live: Historians and their Sources – Understanding Russian Refugee Settlement in Alberta

RETROactive Live: Historians and their Sources – Understanding Russian Refugee Settlement in Alberta

Jared

Written by: RETROactive staff

The last RETROactive Live Alberta Heritage Speaker Series for the next few months is taking place on Thursday, June 18. Click the registration link to sign up. You can also watch recordings of the previous four webinars.

The Russian Revolution and Civil War (1917-22) created an enormous refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of people fled Russia to escape violence and persecution. Approximately 16,000 sought refuge in Harbin, China, where they appealed to the international community for assistance. In 1924, Canada agreed to open its borders to several groups of Russian refugees on the condition that they pay for their own passage and settle on agricultural land. Between 1924 and 1927, over 1,000 Russian refugees arrived in Canada to start a new life, with hundreds initially settling in central Alberta.

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RETROactive Live: The Okotoks Erratic – Stories, Knowledge and Understanding

RETROactive Live: The Okotoks Erratic – Stories, Knowledge and Understanding

Jared

Written by: RETROactive staff

The RETROactive Live Alberta Heritage Speaker Series continues. Join us on Monday, June 8 for a discussion about the Okotoks Erratic. Click this registration link to sign up.

The Okotoks Erratic has been a site of visitation and ceremony for as long as anyone can remember. Join Historic Resources Management Branch staff Christina Robinson and Blair First Rider in a discussion about Blackfoot perspectives of Okotoks, and the network of knowledge that has expanded our understandings of how to respectfully preserve and share this special place.

Blair First Rider can still remember the first time he heard the Okotoks creation story. Raised as a kiipita pooka—a grandparent’s child—he grew up with the stories shared by his grandfather, Maatoom Kitopi (George First Rider). Despite generations of government policy that forcibly separated Indigenous peoples from their language, community and places of significance, the stories and oral traditional prevailed. “I used to listen to the old men who would come around to the house, and they would tell stories way into the night. One of the stories was about Okotoks. That’s how they impart knowledge and life lessons and morals to the children, through Napi stories.”

Watch a special video from Blair First Rider, discussing the significance of this site to the Blackfoot Confederacy.

RETROactive Live: Bits, Bytes and Borden Numbers

RETROactive Live: Bits, Bytes and Borden Numbers

Jared

Written by: RETROactive staff

After the launch of the RETROactive Live Alberta Heritage Speaker Series a couple days ago, we are pleased to invite you to our next online webinar. This talk will be delivered by Robert H. Gustas, geomatics technologist for the Historic Resources Management Branch.

Digital heritage is the use of digital representations, records and datasets to document, interpret and preserve archaeological sites, artifacts, built heritage and traditional use locations. The implementation of digital technologies in archaeological and historical research and conservation has ushered in a foundational change to the practice of preserving, documenting and recording Alberta’s history. In this presentation we will learn how different sections at the Historic Resource Management Branch (HRMB) use these new technologies by exploring case studies from projects across the province.

Have you ever wondered how an archaeological site gets its name? Or how GPS knows your exact location? What is the deal with drones and how are they revolutionizing data collection? In Bits, Bytes and Borden Numbers we will answer these and many more questions and learn the basics behind the technologies that power the modern practice of heritage management. Additionally, we will learn about different digital resources and datasets that are available to the public and how you can engage with digital heritage.

For your reference, Robert will be consulting a number of public-facing digital resources during his presentation, including:

View the registration link to sign up.

Introducing RETROactive Live: Alberta Heritage Speaker Series

Introducing RETROactive Live: Alberta Heritage Speaker Series

Jared

Written by: RETROactive staff

If you scroll all the way down to the very first RETROactive blog post from January 2011, you’ll see that it began as an initiative of the Historic Places Stewardship section to share information about historic places in Alberta. Over 800 blog posts and 15 years later, RETROactive has become a staple for heritage enthusiasts across the province. In that spirit, we are now launching RETROactive Live: the Alberta Heritage Speaker Series. Join us for free, online evening presentations on Alberta history and heritage topics later this spring.

Our first presentation will be delivered on May 4, 2026 by staff Archaeologist, Dr. Todd Kristensen. Todd will be speaking about ancient jade artifacts and the role the public played in helping to discover this aspect of Alberta’s archaeological history. Click the link below for more information and to register.

Ancient Jade Artifacts in Alberta and Beyond

Stay tuned for details on additional presentations that will be held throughout May and June!