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2008 Overview
(reported by Terry J. Deveau,
Halifax, 2008-08-18)
For two jam-packed days from August 16 to 17, Saint Mary's University in
Halifax, Nova Scotia was host to the Atlantic Conference, sponsored by Clan
Sinclair, Ancient American magazine, the Oopa Loopa Café, and 94.7 SeadsideFM.
The conference was a resounding success in its ambition to bring together
experts in diverse fields, centred on the theme of early trans-Atlantic contact
between diverse cultures, and to foster opportunities for synergy and
collaboration among the participants, as well as in a more general way, among
the disciplines themselves.
Thirteen formal papers were presented: Gunnar Thompson on depictions of maize in
Egyptian burial art, Mark and Wendy Phillips on Native American stories which
validate early trans-Atlantic contact, Romeo Hristov on Roman-era sculpture
excavated in Mexico, Richard White on Prince Henry Sinclair, Scott Wolter on the
validation of the Kennsington Runse Stone, Stephen Augustine on the Native
American creation myth and the story of a special wampum belt, Benjamin Olshin
on a systems approach to the study of early voyages, Martin Carrière the role of
mixed bloodlines and its influence on culture, Danny Hennigar on the mystery of
Oak Island, Garth Norman on the standard cubit measure, which points to
connections between Mesoamerican sculpture and Egyptian sculpture, Diane Wirth
on parallels in maize god traditions between Mesoamerica and ancient Egypt,
Scott Wolter on interpretation and validation of New World rune stones,
particularly his new research on the Hooked X, and Michael Thrasher on the
re-emergence of Native American spiritual traditions into open practice. Steve
St. Clair also showed possible future directions of work based on connections
between Native traditions, traditional research and DNA research. He then gave a
brief overview of his work on DNA analysis to identify family groupings and to
trace blood lines in the Sinclair DNA project, which he runs. In addition, there
were impassioned addresses by Don Julien (Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq),
Peter Milliken (Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons), and Niven Sinclair
(prime instigator of the conference and long-standing supporter of its research
aims).
Don Julien also took the opportunity to express the heartfelt appreciation of
the Mi'kmaq people to the legacy of cross-cultural understanding and
rapprochement fostered by Niven Sinclair and presented him with a mounted and
framed eagle feather. In a similar spirit, Martin Carrière presented Niven
Sinclair, Steve St. Clair, and Elizabeth Lane (key people involved in the
conference) with ceremonial Algonquin sashes. Niven Sinclair also awarded a
scholarship to Matt Sinclair, a young person who had assisted with the
conference. Steve St. Clair served as a very capable and proficient conference
chairman, and in addition to him and Niven Sinclair, Mark Staveley and William
Mann also played principal roles in the planning and realization of the
conference.
In addition to the valuable exchange of facts and research findings, the
conference was highly successful in forging new friendships and chains of
communication, not just between individual researchers and cultural knowledge
custodians, but by extension, between the spheres of influence and collegiality
that each of these people represent. Most of the presentations were videotaped
and the availability of the DVD will be announced in a few weeks on the
conference web site:
An additional five days of field trips all across mainland Nova Scotia were also
completed with a large group, as an extension of the Atlantic Conference, for
those who wish to stay and see some of Nova Scotia’s most intriguing and
commemorative sites, from Halifax, to Oak Island, to Yarmouth, to Cap d'Or, to
Guysborough, among others. These were organized, planned and managed by Terry
Deveau.
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© Copyright St. Clair Research 2008, All Rights Reserved |
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