Aboriginal artifacts surface in road debate

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Prehistoric Aboriginal artifacts may become the latest obstacle in the battle to build a road next to Big Lake in the suburban city of St. Albert northwest of Edmonton.

The two-lane route - intended to make commuting easier for residents in the city's northwest - just happens to run through an area rich in tools, arrowheads and the remains of Native peoples left up to 5,000 years ago.

"This concerns - in my opinion - the history of the entire First Nations in this country long before any white man was here," said Elke Blodgett, a resident of St. Albert for 31 years.

Blodgett is likely one of the first to consider the road's impact on Aboriginal cultural history.

She began walking in the area 30 years ago "and everywhere I went I found Indian artifacts."

Blodgett examined the objects, began studying archeology and even tried to get the Provincial Museum of Alberta interested in the area.

The variety and number of artifacts - including obsidian arrowheads probably from British Columbia - suggest the location may have been a significant trading place, said Blodgett. She also suspects there may have been a buffalo jump judging by the lay of the land and the large number of buffalo bones.

While the Provincial Museum declined Blodgett's invitation to investigate, it was required in 1978 to commission a series of digs when the multi-national giant, Landrex Corporation, applied for a subdivision in the area. More digs were done two years later when plans were first made to build a road through the area where the Sturgeon River drains Big Lake.

The findings were not classified as being particularly unusual, but they were not done in the location where Blodgett said she found most of her artifacts.

Reports from the early digs, and artifacts collected by Blodgett, are now in the hands of the nearby Alexander First Nation which is contemplating whether it and descendants of the nearby Michel Band might become involved in the road issue.

Ken Thompson, a Metis freelance writer living in St. Albert, delivered the goods to the reserve April 30 to try and arouse an official response from Native groups.

"If that bypass does go through it's going to mean all the ancestral artifacts that are down there are going to be taken up . . . and then ground into the dirt again under the wheels of progress."

Thompson said significant time should be allowed for an excavation. If there is no archeological dig then the area should be preserved complete with the artifacts in the ground.

A majority of city councilors, however, have a different view.

A stormy council meeting April 21 went until after midnight before council voted 4 to 3 to proceed with the development. Protesters said they will organize petitions to halt its progress.

Objections so far have centred on the environmental significance of the affected area.

An active local environmental group notes that the shoreline is an important staging ground for migratory birds and has eco-tourism potential. Critics also note the road - designed to eventually become a six-lane bypass - will divert traffic from businesses in the city centre (a concern which has resulted in city officials adopting the term "western boundary road" instead of "western bypass").

So far, the archeological angle has been a footnote.

But Thompson believes Native people should become involved and should have a say in whether any findings are significant or not.

He wonders why St. Albert didn't contact Native people when it became evident there were archeological findings in the area.

"Not one Native person or Indian person was given knowledge that these artifacts were found. Instead of holding information back they should have let an Indian council or an Indian representative know these artifacts were found and where they were found."

On the other hand, Blodgett said she has tried to get Aboriginal organizations involved in the past, but without any success.

She speculates this may be ecause the objects in question predate recent tribal territories making it difficult for any particular Native community to identify with them. But she said Natives have a right to enter the road debate.

"What we have taken away over the years we can't really change, but whatever can still be changed to do justice should still be done."

A spokesperson for the Provincial Museum said further archeological studies could still occur at Big Lake before any road is built.

Dr. Jack Ives, manager of the archeology and ethnology section, said on April 28 that the museum's Archeological Survey is called on up to 200 times a year to investigate development projects. It could be called upon to do more studies at Big Lake if, as appears to be the case, the road's route has changed since the first studies were carried out.

If that happens and significant historical resources are found, the project could be altered.

"We are under the general impression (an archeological study) would be two to three years before the project would actually go forward."

The Archeological Survey usually springs into action after a call from the Minister of Alberta Community Development, but no call has been made yet.

Meanwhile, Ives is cautious about ascribing significance to artifacts found near Big Lake to date.

Some objects appear to be from the middle prehistoric period and could be 3,000 to 5,000 years old, he said. But because they were close to the surface they have likely been disturbed by farming and taken out of their original context.

"As you get to be 2,000, 3,000, 5,000 years of age it's clear that Aboriginal people have left these things behind, but it's not clear just which group."

There has been talk that burial sites are in the area, but Ives said there is no evidence to substantiate the claims.

"These are campsite types of settings, as far as we understand, where you have the domestic debris of living left behind. And principally what we see are stone tools, someprojectile points - small arrowheads - scrappers and especially the stone flaking byproducts of working with tools."

Findings would be more significant if excavations were done deeper into the ground, he suggested.

For now, the museum waiting to see what further role it will be asked to play in the road project.

"And until we get an actual referral saying 'alright, part of the route goes where you thought before, but here are the changes' and we can assess what the impact of those changes might be, it's a bit premature for us to try to say exactly what's going to happen."