Machenka Eriksen has made the 2019 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for The Archaeologist's Last Visit.

Machenka Eriksen is an activist, a graduate student and a grandmother. She was born and raised on Coast Salish and North Straits Salish territories in British Columbia, surrounded by storytellers of all ages. She is a self-described compulsive writer, accumulating stacks of dusty journals and often jotting down ideas on random scraps of paper including napkins, receipts and chocolate wrappers. Occasionally, the surface of her hand suffices. Her interests include astronomy, gardening, beachcombing, listening to stories and spending time with family.

"Charred stones, old yellowed bones."

"This story was inspired by a childhood spent exploring the woods, swamps and shorelines of Semiahmoo lands. It was in this environment that unique friendships emerged, some being intergenerational. In particular, there was a pivotal moment in which I sensed that my relationship with the community, lands and waters I called home was inherently different than that of my friends. This understanding would come to shape the ways in which I have lived and experienced my life."

Josh and I are sitting on a boulder near the train tracks, smoking, when it happens. It happened before, but this is the first time I've seen it. An archaeologist comes to the rez. He's carrying this big gray duffle bag filled with orange flagging and some wooden sticks. The sticks are all the same size, blunt at one end and pointed at the other. He takes a mallet out of his bag, pounds the sticks in the ground and ties up the flagging in demarcated places just up from the beach, behind the tracks. It's not an obvious place. You have to look around to find it.

The winner of the 2019 CBC Nonfiction Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.

The shortlist will be announced on Sept. 18, 2019. The winner will be announced on Sept. 25, 2019.