SaR makeS a daRinG aLpine ReScUe a6
JULY 17, 2013
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Ancient Green Lake burial site protected from soil erosion
carole Rooney Free Press
A solemn but serene crowd gathered on the north shore of Green Lake to witness the relocation of the remains of 15 First Nations people from a long bygone time to safer ground just a few steps away. Canim Lake Band Chief Mike Archie and CLB members, CaribooChilcotin MLA Donna Barnett, lead archeologist Dana Evaschuck and her team, Archeology Branch representative Jane Warner, property owner Robin Rusaw, neighbouring residents and others formed a group of several dozen people who attended the special reinterment ceremony July 12. Carole Rooney photo They were there to honour the Canim Lake Band Elders and youth smudged the ancient Green Lake burial site on July 12, after the First Nations ancestral remains and bless the site. After many years of research, plan- remains were relocated farther away from the steep and eroding shoreline to protect them. After years of preparation, archeologists performed this rare move in a 10-day timeframe. ning and site work, a team of eight leading archeologists toiled for about in the mid-1990s and returned them 10 days prior to the ceremony, painsto burial ground at Green Lake. takingly sifting through the soil to Canim Lake Band is currently in remove the ancestral remains for the process of acquiring the property, relocation. and will reposition a stone monuTheir task was to move them here for a long time, and when this and the owners of the land. ment it had placed at the site years further away from the lake before happens, we have to look after the Rusaw says her parents, Jim and ago. erosion could further disturb the site process and properly put them back Joan Dunbar, first reported the disOn Friday, as these people bore – possibly losing the remains forever. in the ground in a manner that is covery when the rider, a wrangler at witness to the reinterment of these The sombre set of simple new cas- respectful.” their guest ranch of the time, showed ancient remains in the new grave, kets covered respectfully in tree bark He explains the reinterment has them what he’d found. ceremonial prayers were given by the and black cloth now lie nestled in been a long time coming and the After her father passed on, Rusaw Elders with drumming, sage smudgthe new grave several square metres band needed to do this for the ances- took over the reins of the mission es and a small traditional fire. in size – a safer resting place for the tors, and do it in “a good way.” 23 years ago to work with the band, Future reporting of the informaremains they bear. “We appreciate the help – a lot authorities and others to protect the tion collected by archeologists in the The original excavation spanned of it from the province of British site. She notes her mother, now in recent dig will also provide valuable a 12- by 16-metre Columbia and her 80s, is also very thrilled to see it insight to First Nations and archeolarea about 16 ogy communities for years to come. Our family has lobbied the federal gov- finally come to fruition. metres away, ernment. We “This is a dream come true, to Having grown up with this family for 39 years for the atop a steep need to be able have finished this and to know they legacy, Rusaw sums up what Chief protection of these crumbling bank to work together will be safe for an eternity. Our famArchie described as “balance” and remains, and I feel overlooking the to move on our ily has lobbied for 39 years for the others articulated in their own way that this is my family lake. way forward. ” protection of these remains, and I at the event. also.” Chief Archie The signifi- feel that this is my family also. And, “The most gratifying part of it says protecting cance of the site they deserved this, too. ” all is we have come together as a - Robin Rusaw these remains is was first recogWhen erosion gradually began to unit, the Canim Lake Band, the significant to the CLB members in nized in 1974 after a horseback rider take a visible toll, the bank became archeology branch, the archeologists looking after both their people and found a small, round bone. unstable. Some of the remains were and ourselves for this project with their history. Since then, 39 years of effort has then taken to Victoria for a time, but the same dedication and the same “It is a big footprint on the land. been underway by the CLB, arche- Chief Archie notes he travelled there understanding of the importance,” Our First Nations people have been ologists, government representatives with an Elder, his Uncle Joe Archie, Rusaw says.
Rare relocation for First Nations remains an important occasion
“