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CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Ancient Saskatchewan archaeological site falls victim to illegal scavenging
Social Sharing A crucial archaeological site in Saskatchewan has become a target for illegal scavenging. sowanânihk, which means "a place to cross" in Cree, is located near Prince Albert and is estimated to be around 11,000 years old. It holds a wealth of evidence of Indigenous settlements that likely existed there. A local ambassador for the site says national news coverage and general popularity has led to an increase in damage from human interference to the site, including the illegal practice of pot hunting. "There's been potters, or people actually digging into the site unauthorized," said Dave Rondeau, local historian and the Crutwell consultation co-ordinator for Métis Local 66. "Without any respect for what this site is in and of itself." The importance of the site The sowanânihk site was likely used as a long-term settlement by Indigenous people, according to archaeologists. "You know, this is a window for us, an opportunity and a window for us to peer back thousands of years and write the story right from the onset of habitation for our territory," Rondeau said. Glenn Stewart, an associate professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Saskatchewan, describes the site as "one of the oldest in Saskatchewan, especially further north." "Preserving it for future generations is not only something we want to do as archaeologists, but it's also a fundamental importance to Sturgeon Lake First Nation and other Indigenous groups in the area," Stewart said. As the site gets more attention, Rondeau said people should be helping to preserve it, not damaging it in search of relics. "As it becomes better known, there is always the risk that you might have more unscrupulous individuals going out and pot hunting." Pot hunting involves illegally digging up artifacts to keep or sell, often without any understanding of the archaeological value they hold. Rondeau said he's seen evidence of it at the site — shovel markings and damage along the riverbank. "You can corrupt the study," Rondeau said. "What good is removing these, you know, lithic material or points or rock or bones if it's just going to go into a box underneath your bed?" Archaeologists like Stewart are trained to carefully excavate and record findings so that the relationship between the artifacts can be understood in the larger context of the site. "Archaeology in itself is a destructive process," Stewart said. "We spend a lot of time training our students on how to properly excavate a site so that all of that information remains intact." A plan for preservation A University of Saskatchewan team is working on a preservation plan for the site. Using small cores extracted from the area, the team will try to get a definitive answer on how far the site extends. "We want to be able to bring in youth, especially Indigenous youth, so they can learn about their own history," Stewart said. "The Canadian government has done a very good job of erasing that history, so we want to give back now." These tests will also help determine how to preserve the site for future generations. Rondeau said that while archaeological research is essential, it is just as important that the local communities, especially Indigenous people, are involved in the conversation. "Whatever we do in terms of research will be governed by what Sturgeon Lake and other Indigenous groups want to see happen at the site," Stewart said. By working together, archaeologists and Indigenous communities hope to preserve a connection with the ancestors and the ancient history of the land. "Everybody owns this site. We are all treaty people, but we need some level of, for lack of a better term, stewardship or the ability to enforce, to stop the contamination of and the destruction of this site," Rondeau said.
National Observer
3 days ago
- National Observer
Wildfires spark demand for Indigenous fire stewardship
Danny Masuzumi Sr. shakes his head, recalling the jumble of emotions he experienced as a raging wildfire bore down on the remote K'ahsho Got'ine community of Fort Good Hope, NWT. A year ago, local leaders, other emergency personnel, Masuzumi and his team of Indigenous Guardians had to make a terrifying decision to evacuate with most of the community living alongside the east bank of the Mackenzie River — or stay and fight the fire along with territorial wildfire crews. They chose to stay. 'We had no hoses, no pumps, no nothing,' said Masuzumi, executive director of the K'ahsho Got'ine Foundation that manages the protection of the community's new Indigenous and Territorial Protected Area with the help of its Guardian team working on the ground to monitor and care for lands and waters. 'It was kind of overwhelming how a person can feel when there's something coming right at you and could destroy your community,' Masuzumi said. While the K'ahsho Got'ine leadership scrambled to obtain necessary firefighting equipment, Masuzumi and the Guardians, along with another 30 or so residents, teamed up to protect their homes or evacuate residents. Some community members had recently completed basic wildfire training from Yukon First Nations Wildfire, an organization working to deepen and develop Indigenous firefighting capacity in the north, Masuzumi said. The team rounded up water trucks and other heavy equipment and started putting firebreaks in place to protect the community. A year after helping protect their community during the massive Fort Good Hope wildfire, K'ahsho Got'ine Indigenous Guardians call for year-round fire stewardship rooted in sovereignty. While most residents were transported to nearby communities, the Guardian crew also evacuated almost 100 residents and cared for them at a fish camp across the river that they'd been setting up for an elders and youth cultural exchange. It was round-the-clock work in difficult conditions, Masuzumi said. 'It was a really busy, really overwhelming two days of fighting the fire.' While buildings in the community were saved from the blaze — sparked by an unattended campfire — the wildfire burned for three weeks, preventing residents' return and scorching more than 8,200 hectares of land before people were given the all clear to return July 6. The wildfire underscored the value of Guardian involvement in a community-led response, Masuzumi said. He added the K'ahsho Got'ine Guardians could do more if they were funded year-round — not just for their environmental monitoring, but as wildfire stewards who work in cooler months to prevent, reduce the intensity and frequency of blazes, and lead recovery and restoration efforts in their territory after climate disasters. Cultural burning curbs catastrophic fires The longstanding process of extinguishing all fires, instead of letting them burn naturally, has led to the build-up of dead wood and brush, increasing the severity of fires when they occur, said Indigenous fire stewardship expert Amy Cardinal Christianson. Replanting after logging with a single species of tree that is often more combustible has also fuelled the intensity of fires, said Christianson, also a policy expert with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI). However, cultural burning, an Indigenous practice of setting selective fires in wet, cooler seasons, helps reduce catastrophic fires and protect important natural areas. 'Indigenous people have been living on the Canadian landscape for millennia in forests that need fire,' she said. However, traditional fire stewardship isn't well-supported by government policies or funding, Christianson said. 'In some seasons, hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars go into fighting wildfires, but little actually goes into prevention or mitigation,' Christianson said. 'We see having Guardians as a really cost-effective way to employ people on the land in a way that achieves big benefits." Australia is leading the way by including traditional fire stewardship as part of their Indigenous Ranger program, she said. 'Indigenous people [in Canada] have really demonstrated they want to be more involved in decision-making about fire in their territories,' Christianson said. It's imperative that fire management is included in the K'ahsho Got'ine land-use plan being developed for the new Ts'udé Nilįné Tuyeta conservation area, Masuzumi said. But sourcing the money from territorial or federal governments or conservation agreements — by applying for time-consuming, short-term grants — is always an issue. 'We always have to scratch our heads and figure out where the funding is going to come from,' he said. Wildfire training and certification is also controlled by outside agencies not typically geared to Indigenous communities' needs or aligned with their values, Christianson said. For example, the firefighting course the K'ahsho Got'ine took wasn't recognized at the time the wildfire threatened their community. Fire sovereignty Provinces and territories control who is a certified firefighter, and there's a growing push from Guardians and nations that want to develop training and firefighting objects suited to their needs, Christianson added. Standard wildfire suppression prioritizes human life and buildings and infrastructure while leaving wildfire to tear across open landscapes. However, all Indigenous communities have natural areas vital to their well-being that need to be included in fire management, Masuzumi said. 'When we have fires out in our territory — just like in every other First Nations territory — we all have burial sites or traditional areas where we go,' he said. 'We always try to protect those areas because those are sacred to us.' Water is also part of the equation, said Masuzumi, who has taken samples from important lakes in his territory for over a decade. 'The water that's from a lake that's got burnt trees … is not the same,' he said. 'It takes a long time for water to turn back to its normal state.' 'Our elders say we have to fight the fire around lakes because the fish are going to die. So, the government doesn't understand those kinds of things, right? They look at it from a different perspective.' There's increasing public conversation about Indigenous fire stewardship after the recent string of savage wildfire seasons, but that hasn't resulted in concrete changes on the ground, Christianson said. Long-term sustainable funding for Guardians to manage wildfire concerns, Indigenous-focused fire training, or the protection of culturally important areas when fighting fires isn't taking place, Christianson said. 'We're seeing a lot of talk, but not action in the way that we want, which is recognizing Indigenous sovereignty to the land and to fire management in our territories, and being able to make important choices,' she said. Masuzumi agreed. 'Our job as guardians is to make sure we're going to take care of the environment,' he said. 'We have the training to prevent [wildfires] from getting worse. We have to be the first line of action.'
Global News
3 days ago
- Global News
Hundreds take part in St. Albert's annual Run for Reconciliation, organizer says support growing
The organizer of an annual Canada Day event northwest of Edmonton, a gathering that focuses on raising awareness about the history and impact of residential schools while promoting reconciliation, says it is getting more support than ever. 'There's been so much support — right from the first year,' Amanda Patrick, who helped organize the fifth annual Run for Reconciliation in St. Albert, Alta., said on Tuesday. 'We gather every year (on) July 1 — on Canada Day — to honour the past before we celebrate the future.' Patrick said the run has seen about 400 people take part each year, ever since the event was started in the wake of human remains being found using ground-penetrating radar searches near residential school sites. This year, Patrick said more than 500 people took part in the run, which began in St. Albert's Lions Park and ended at the St. Albert Healing Garden. Story continues below advertisement 'We walk and run in … remembrance of those who attended Canadian residential schools as survivors and those that live with intergenerational trauma,' she said. Many participants who took part in the walk or run wore orange shirts, the colour having become a symbol of reconciliation and showing respect for residential school survivors. Many people's shirts had the words 'every child matters' printed on them. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I'm very happy to be here today for this event and recognizing the people and the stories of this land that I live (on), love and grew up on,' James Rossmann told Global News when asked why he decided to take part. 'I think that's super important.' Hazel McKennitt, a venerated teacher, community volunteer and activist in the Edmonton area, has been actively involved with the run since it began and was there on Tuesday. Story continues below advertisement McKennitt said she spent 10 years attending a residential school from the age of six until she was 16, and said she believes the impacts and legacy of residential schools are still very evident today. 'Child welfare is still an extension of residential school,' she said. 'The trauma is still an extension of residential school, and it's going to continue if we don't tell the truth about residential schools and what happened.' Patrick said that not only has the event seen more support each year, but the people who put it on are becoming 'more and more organized,' and have started a non-profit organization called Kisakihikawin St. Albert. The non-profit is raising money through the run this year for the Poundmaker's Lodge Treatment Centre, an Indigenous addiction treatment centre. Patrick said the City of St. Albert has also been offering more and more support for the run each year. 'It's become a staple in a lot of people's lives for Canada Day,' she said. 'We have a lot of participants who say this is part of their day now. 'I think events like this offer a space where participants can learn about reconciliation, be in a space where they can ask questions and not feel judged … walk away with more knowledge and understanding of how they can have reconciliation in their life and what they can do going forward.'
