Réginald Auger

Réginald Auger, an archeologist with wide-ranging expertise, has worked on major sites in Canada and abroad. Always a forward thinker, Professor Auger created an archeology program and labs that are unique in Canada and put Université Laval on the map internationally.

A key role in major international excavations

From the days of his earliest research, Réginald Auger has forged an enviable reputation. Early in his career, he was invited by the Smithsonian Institution to participate in a large-scale project on Martin Frobisher’s journeys in search of a passage to China in the 16th century. European and North American specialists from some fifteen different fields worked on this project, which involved both archeological excavations and archival study of travel logs. The resulting book, Meta Incognita: A Discourse of Discovery - Martin Frobisher’s Arctic Expeditions, 1576–1578, won the Canadian Nautical Research Society’s Keith Matthews Award
 
After this project, Professor Auger was asked by the Archeology Service of Guyana to lead an international research initiative in colonial archeology, which he did for 22 years. Situated on a former Jesuit sugar plantation, the site shed light on the effects of slavery, the role of missionaries, and global economic challenges in the 18th century. He was awarded the Luc-Lacourcière medal for the contribution he made to ethnological studies in the book he coauthored Loyola: Les jésuites et l’esclavage - L’habitation des jésuites de Rémire en Guyane française.

More recently, Professor Auger was recruited by France’s Ministry of Culture to help gather evidence in support of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon’s candidacy for UNESCO World Heritage status. He is currently co-directing a team that is unearthing the remains of a Paleo-Eskimo settlement and a site documenting early evidence of the presence of Beothuks from Newfoundland.

These important projects attest to Professer Auger’s passion and outstanding international reputation. They also helped him forge valuable relationships that have enabled 40 graduate students under his supervision to join archeological teams at home and abroad. From 2009 to 2015, he also taught a course on heritage at the State University of Haiti.

A visionary and committed archeologist

Professor Auger has distinguished himself with his pioneering approach. Rather than follow the well-trodden path of material culture studies, he incorporated ethnohistory and oral tradition into his archeological practices in order to better grasp his primary field of study—Indigenous civilization—and offer a different version of history. But that doesn’t mean that he turned his back on the scientific aspects of his field. Soon after being hired, he formed the Archeometry Research Group (Groupe de recherche en archéométrie). His determination to use the natural sciences for the advancement of history led him to explore new methodological approaches and to publish articles on archeometallurgy, ceramography, and dendrochronology (tree-ring chronology) in collaboration with colleagues in the natural sciences. He has been leading a project since 2017 with a computer science team at Université de Rennes to develop knowledge-sharing tools that combine CT scanning and 3D imaging technologies.

Professor Auger was the driving force behind the creation of Université Laval’s undergradute interdisciplinary program in archeology and the UL archeology laboratories and has also served as the director of CELAT and codirector of the CELAT Cahiers d’archéologie collection, which contains 46 volumes. In addition, he has often spoken out publicly to demand greater recognition for the place of history in society. In recognition of his unwavering commitment to preserving heritage, the Canadian House of Commons awarded Auger the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.