Former C-Falls teacher wins national award

A former Columbia Falls High School teacher and graduate recently won a national award for her University of Montana anthropology doctoral dissertation on magic and archaeology.

C. Riley Auge finished her dissertation in 2013 in which she delved into the historical record of myth, ritual and religion.

She will receive the 2016 Kathleen Kirk Gilmore Dissertation Award from the Society for Historical Archaeology Jan. 6 in Washington D.C. The UM professors who sat on her dissertation committee nominated her for the award. The society gets dozens of nominations each year, Auge said.

“It’s really competitive. It’s a very prestigious award,” she said. The recognition comes with a $1,000 award.

Her extended family moved to Columbia Falls in the early 1950s, while her immediate family moved to the area in 1973 when her father retired from the military. She graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 1977. She returned to teach at the high school from 2000 to 2007 and coached the speech and debate team. She helped the team win several state championships.

One of her two sons, Peter Newbury, lives with his family in Columbia Falls.

In her early years, Auge traveled a lot as an Air Force brat. Her father, Don Riley, was in the U.S. Air Force taking them to live in multiple states and in Germany, twice. Her exposure to different cultures sparked a lifelong interest in cultural belief systems. She particularly was interested in folklore creations like monsters, fairies and demons because all cultures have those beings, each with a different twist.

“It just really interested me that there are so many different but similar ways to deal with being human,” she said. “We often turn to our beliefs and stories to empower us in some way.”

She doesn’t believe in the existence of those creatures, but attributes their creation to a universal force that has been given different names by different cultures.

“There is a mysterious force in the world that isn’t necessarily tangible or identifiable scientifically. Yes, I believe in that force,” she said.

She got the opportunity to get her doctorate degree when her husband took a job in Missoula. She quit her job at the high school to study her lifelong passion in cultural beliefs.

Auge’s dissertation titled “Silent Sentinels: Archaeology, Magic and the Gendered Control of Domestic Boundaries in New England, 1620-1725” involved delving into the historic archaeological record of myth, ritual and religion. Specifically, Auge was interested in how magic is woven into the fabric of life in all cultures.

At the time, residents attached magical meanings to everyday items like scissors, knives, pins and hoes.

“Any sharp metal object was believed to deter witches and demons of some kind,” she said.

The natural world also held powers.

Plants, trees, herbs and flowers were believed to have magical protective powers and were planted next to doors and windows. Hens and chicks was planted on the house roofs to protect from lightning sent by witches. Also called houseleeks, hens and chicks is a succulent plant that grows in rock gardens, she said.

Auge said horseshoes were put on doors because it was believed that a fairy or demon wouldn’t be able enter.

In her dissertation, Auge establishes the use of magic and its context by drawing on a variety of scholarly sources, including the interpretations of historians, the witch trial documents, diaries and letters and general folklore works.

She plans to eventually reformat her dissertation into a book. She is also working on a field manual on archaeology, ritual, religion and magic that will be finished at the end of year.

Auge is currently the curator of the UM Anthropological Curation Facility and teaches courses in archaeology at UM.