City Councillors Continue to Resist Acknowledging Indigenous Campsite Discovery

Elder Charlie Fox provides a prayer prior to a teepee raising event at Medicine Hat’s Town Square in August 2024. (Photo Alex McCuaig)

The layers of regulations surrounding archeological digs in Alberta generally – and a Medicine Hat discovery specifically – are exposing questions about who and how communities are notified when a find is Indigenous in nature.

Provincial officials say the discovery of an up to 1,500-year-old campsite in Medicine Hat is Indigenous in nature. But the find doesn’t meet the threshold to engage with the Medicine Hat Indigenous community, according to a statement by the ministry responsible for archeological resources.

For its part, neither Medicine Hat’s civic administration nor its elected officials will confirm the site has any Indigenous connection, despite a municipally funded report’s conclusion that it does. Both Mayor Linnsie Clark and a city administration spokesperson state they’ve been directed by the province to direct all third-party questions to the province for processing. The province maintains there’s nothing preventing City Hall from commenting on the Indigenous site on its own accord.

Oxbow points found during the Ross Glen excavation of an Indigenous campsite dating to 3,000 BC. The site was utilized multiple times over millennia with the excavation taking place in the early 1980s. The site was described as potentially, “one of the most significant stone circle sites yet investigated in Alberta and possibly in all of the Northern Plains.” The site was destroyed during the development of the Ross Glen subdivision. (Photos courtesy of the Royal Alberta Museum)

Regardless of a possible contradiction between the province and municipality, the contracted author of the civic taxpayer sponsored report, Stantec, will be presenting its findings to a conference later this month.

The discovery of the Indigenous site at a municipal water treatment project in June 2023 wasn’t revealed to the Medicine Hat public or Indigenous community. That is, aside from it being identified as an archeological discovery. The Medicine Hat Owl began its investigation into the site following the excavation being completed and Stantec report submitted to the province for review in July 2024.

Members of both Medicine Hat’s Indigenous and archeological communities spoken to regarding the site over the last seven months have revealed extremely limited information being shared with either group.

The water treatment project is over budget and under pressure to be completed with the initial provincially mandated deadline of completion by the end of 2024 being given a one-year extension.

According to updates provided from city council on issues surrounding delays and requests for more funding, the discovery of “archeological artifacts” delayed the project by six months and at a cost $500,000.

That find included, “two deeply buried ancient Indigenous campsites, including evidence of bison bone processing and stone tool production activities that date to approximately 1,100 to 1,500 years ago,” according to the province.

According to Mayor Clark, city council was not provided access to the Stantec archeological report at the time nor have access to it now and were not informed by either the province or city administration of details of the discovery.

“I have been told we are not supposed to comment until the province gives us permission to do so,” said Clark. “I haven’t seen the report.”

The provincial department responsible for archeological finds in the province, the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Status of Women, states there is nothing preventing the city from commenting on the find.

“There is no part of the policy or process - or any part of the Historical Resource Act - that gives any direction to the city against commenting on this,” according from a statement from ministry spokesperson Juliana Rodriguez.

But according to communications from the provincial director of Alberta’s Archeological Survey, Darryl Bereziuk to Clark appears to add some ambiguity to that claim.

“We would ask that 3rd party requests for information be directed to us for processing,” wrote Bereziuk.

However, a review of provincial legislation and policies back up the ministry’s statement with no identifiable regulation preventing the municipality from speaking to the find, regardless of what anyone might direct to the contrary.

Adding to the issue is even if Clark is allowed to comment, she has not been given access to the municipally funded Stantec report.

“I have not received a copy from administration,” said Clark.

The city’s residual water treatment plant under construction in August 2024. (File photo)

While the city’s mayor hasn’t been briefed on the details of the find, Stantec’s senior archeologist, Josuha Read, will be presenting it in Medicine Hat later this month.

Read will be giving that presentation at the Archeological Society of Alberta’s AGM being held at Medalta.

As for requirements to notify local notifications to local or regional Indigenous communities, that isn’t required due to the classification of the site.

According to Rodriguez, the ministry “engages with Indigenous communities on individual archaeological site discoveries when it is an Indigenous traditional land-use site.

“This particular site was not a traditional land-use site.”

In Alberta, to qualify for protections afforded under provincial regulations for a traditional land-use site, it requires to be found to have at least one of several criteria.

Those criteria include the site being found to be a cultural or community campsite, a historic site or one connected to oral history.

A municipal report on Indigenous connections to the land in and around Okotoks expanded the definition of a traditional land-use site.

That report by Arrow Archeology in consultation with First Nations covered by Treaty Seven included harvesting sites and areas utilized to gather materials for tool making as qualifying as traditional sites.

While Medicine Hat’s name is derived from Indigenous legend along with the existence of multiple oral histories connected to the city and an archeological record stretching back 5,000 years, the most recent discovery did not qualify as a traditional land-use site.

One of a number of sites located within Medicine Hat city limits reflecting a tangible connection between Indigenous people and the land. (File Photo)

As to questions whether the most recent archeological find falls under the self-described “Protocol Between the Government of Alberta and Blackfoot Confederacy for Discussion on Matters of Mutual Concern,” the province provided a response.

“Should the Chiefs of the Blackfoot Confederacy wish to discuss matters such as archaeological sites discovered in Medicine Hat, yes, this could be discussed under the Protocol agreement," stated Rodriguez.

The province also stated, “archaeological site information is made readily available to archaeologists and Indigenous communities in Alberta, but broader distribution is typically restricted to prevent unauthorized disturbances and looting.”

However, it is unclear how such information can be identified by city archaeologists along with both local and regional Indigenous communities if they are not notified about finds.

The province states, “Alberta's government deeply respects the rich cultures and histories of First Nations Peoples and recognizes the profound connection between Indigenous communities and their ancestral lands.”

The city opens council meetings stating, “the city pays respect to all Indigenous Peoples and honours their past, present and future.”

Repeated requests to city councillors for comment on the discovery and confirmation of the up to 1,500-year-old Indigenous campsite have not been responded to as of time of publication.

Both of the city’s MLAs, Justin Wright and Premier Danielle Smith, have acknowledged the discovery of the Indigenous campsite while echoing much of the ministry’s statements.