Digging deep at Calgary Site

Native participation has added a whole new dimension to archeological work on a site soon to become a housing development in Calgary's west end.

The archeological work, now entering its third year, has uncovered an usual stone circle and evidence of a different climate in the Calgary area thousands of years ago.

But equally interesting is how Native involvement has influenced the archeological dig, said Gerry Oetelaar, assistant professor of archeology at the University of Calgary.

Native participation was slow to begin in the project, but after its second year, Native academics, archeology students, volunteers, advisors and Elders from the nearby Siksika and Tsuu T'ina bands had all been involved.

Each digging season has opened and closed with Aboriginal ceremonies and the cultural knowledge of Elders has been available to archeology students throughout the project.

"For us it adds a certain character to the way we perceive and interpret the remains," said Oetelaar.

Instead of just looking for object, participants are looking more than ever for the person behind the artifact, he adds.

Some Native participants have remembered what they'd heard their Elders say and sometimes it turned out to be relevant in evaluating the evidence.

At one point, Bruce Starlight, an important advisor to the project from the Tsuu T'ina band, was able to confirm that a site was once a winter settlement because of the south-facing entrance to a tipi that was uncovered.

The site, which features an ancient stone circle, is significant because winter encampments result in larger accumulations of cultural debris. Other stone circles have tended to offer little cultural evidence because they were more temporary, said Oetelaar.

And not all learning has been underground.

At one point, Native and non-Native participants alike, dined on traditional Native food which led to a comparative study of traditional Native foods and the Canada Health Guide. (Apparently, traditional Native diet follows the guide to a tee.)

According to Oeteelaar, archeologists in the past have been reluctant to involve Native people out of a fear they would be barred from their research by concerns that objects of significance would be disturbed.

However, 99.9 per cent of archeology is piecing together tiny fragments of evidence and the Native people involved in the Calgary project are equally, if not more, curious to find out about their history, he said.

Perhaps surprisingly, the developer behind the housing project soon to occupy the area, Carma Developments Ltd., has also shown enthusiasm. Carma was required to conduct one dig in the area before construction could begin, but agreed to carry out two. And when the archeological work is done there will be a creekside interpretive trail explaining the significance of the area's antural history and archeological artifacts.

Oetelaar notes that one site reveals several layers of cultural artifacts dating as far back as 8,500 years. Few such sites have been found in the Calgary area and fewer yet as rich in artifacts.

Remains form a wide variety of plants and animal species, including buffalo, elk, deer, mountain lions, mountain sheep, hares, ducks and an unusually large type of bison, suggest the area once had a different climate and was actually a mixture of woodland and grassland.

The 1997 field season will begin with an opening ceremony May 15. While the project is academic in nature it also aims to increase public awareness and involvement by students at the junior high and high school levels.