It was with great pleasure that I read the article Bones in a recent Saturday’s paper.
I am concerned however, how the City of Red Deer, so deeply concerned with celebrating 100 years as a city, can be so unconcerned about our lack of serious archeological research. Certainly, with our voracious appetite for land, our destructive bent on heritage sites, we would come across at least one pre-contact footnote.
I should rephrase that. Official pre-contact documented site. Unofficially, there has been the West Park Indian grave the city uncovered in the 1980s, burials along 32nd Street, the desecration of the Westlake area that was a known wintering ground for centuries complete with tepee rings, arrowheads, and even evidence of trade goods.
We cannot forget the amazing collection the Bower family donated to the museum that is hidden away, nor can we forget the various graves scattered in and around Riverside Meadows, or the unexplored riches of Fort Normandeau that is rapidly disappearing as gravel is hauled far and away.
According to official city records, only Piper Mountain is recognized as an archaeological site. Only one. There have been three archaeological surveys in our 100-year history.
However, the city website does state this: “The City of Red Deer takes its name from the river that flows through it. The Red Deer River was important to the First Peoples of Central Alberta. For thousands of years its watershed teemed with a wide range of wildlife. Buffalo, deer, moose and elk were hunted for food; and beaver and other fur-bearing animals provided warm clothing and later pelts to barter for European trade goods. By the mid-nineteenth century, the region was inhabited by the Blackfoot, the Plains Cree, the Stoney and Metis hunters and traders.
“Because elk were always found in abundance along its banks, the Cree referred to the river as Waskasoo seepee or ‘Elk River.’ Early British fur traders often misidentified the elk as a type of European red deer. They mistranslated the Cree name as ‘Red Deer River.’ Later settlers applied the name Red Deer to their growing community. Waskasoo Creek, which runs through Red Deer, reflects the former Cree name.” (http://www.reddeer.ca/Visitors/About+Red+Deer/History/default.htm)
Maskepetoon Park does celebrate the efforts of a well known peace-making chief in the area. And many of our established features do have Cree roots as their name. What is not well known is that many ‘firsts’ in Central Alberta are due to native Canadians. Many successful businessmen today claim tribal descent back pre-1880.
So, as we think about the centennial of Red Deer, when do we start counting? Do we recognize the fact that our history probably goes back 4,000 to 5,000 years, that if we really, really look at our new subdivisions, and think back to those bones or piles of stones we thought were random, really should be noted and left alone?
An Indian view of burials and ceremonial sites is different than our anglo saxon view. We deem them ‘artifacts,’ and interesting features we can move and reproduce. Native cultures deem them spiritual, and therefore they still have value and power. They cannot be moved, disturbed and should be honoured.
Our history is more than pioneer facts, families, farms, homes and accomplishments. It is more than a succession of buildings, land use and societal beliefs/practices. For inhabitants of Central Alberta, our area has been a crossroads for tribes for thousands of years. To the north, Gull Lake was the QEII for 2,000 years. Evidence still exists.
When are we going to take notice, take a stand, and stand up to those who would desecrate history from all eras of occupation in Red Deer?
Tim Lasiuta
Red Deer