Pasikôw
How Archaeological Remote Sensing is helping the Papaschase First Nation in their fight for Justice
For Chief Papaschase, His Descendants... and the Rest of Us.
Chief Papaschase, John Quinn Gladue. 1832 – 1918
According to Statistics Canada, there are over 1.4 million Indigenous people in Canada, and they are the fastest growing population group. Currently, there are 635 government-recognized First Nations.
Interactive Map with Indigenous communities. Red highlights the modern reserves of federally-recognized Nations created using ArcGIS Online and Vector Tile Editor.
National Day of Action, January 2019- Papaschase Blockade, Edmonton.
The Papaschase First Nation is not one of them.
Currently, they are taking steps to become federally-recognized and regain part of their homeland, now occupied by the city of Edmonton, Alberta.
A Painful History
In the mid-1800s, Chief Papaschase ('Pileated Woodpecker') and his Cree band inhabited the Lesser Slave Lake Region of Alberta. By 1877, the community members were forced to redefine their ways of life because of famine and disease, and settled outside Fort Edmonton, to increase their access to the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).
Map: Map of Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Beaver Hills House) or Edmonton, AB before European Settlement. Along the North Saskatchewan River, the HBC Fort is indicated by the flag. The dotted lines indicate historic trails around the city.
Video: Mill Creek Ravine, Edmonton. Papaschase Cree and their relatives lived on this land prior to their removal by settlers.
On August 23, 1876, Chief Papaschase and his brother, Tahkoots, were co-signatories of Treaty Six at Fort Edmonton. The signing of this federal document recognized the Papaschase Cree as a First Nation.
In exchange for their land, the Papaschase First Nation was supposed to receive reserve lands, rights, annual payments, tools, and medicine.
Right: A photograph from one of the signings of Treaty 6. Glenbow Archives NA-448-6
When the Nation was granted their reserve, however, the government agents illegally reduced their reserve size and pushed them further from the city.
Despite being entitled to 49.9 square miles in what is now downtown Edmonton, their reserve was reduced to 40 square miles and located farther south.
Map: Overlaid Alberta Township Grid created to parcel land and increase European settlement. The Papaschase reserve was created far to the south of the newly created Edmonton Settlement.
Unfortunately, the Papaschase First Nation was forced to move from their lands in Edmonton again in 1888 as the city began to grow. Not only was their reserve forcibly surrendered but they also lost federal status as a First Nation. The full history of this removal was outlined in a classic story map ( https://arcg.is/CrzvK ).
Reasons for the reserve's removal included:
- To make room for the expanding city of Edmonton, and the incoming railroad between the city and Calgary.
- To free up valuable agricultural land for European settlement
- To recover the natural resources, such as coal and placer gold, that were on reserve land.
Left: Historic map depicting the growth of the Edmonton settlement, and the railway that would run through the Papaschase reserve.
As a result of the forcible displacements, the Nation scattered and many members left to join other communities in order to survive. Edmonton continued to grow, and eventually people forgot this history.
Today, while Chief and Council rebuild the Papaschase First Nation, archaeologists continue to find evidence that people have been living in this area for thousands of years.
Left: A heat map of the density of archaeological sites in Edmonton. Data freely obtained from the Archaeological Survey of Alberta.
Archaeology, Remote Sensing and GIS
In 2017, Chief Calvin Bruneau of the Papaschase First Nation approached University of Alberta archaeologist, Dr. Kisha Supernant, about conducting an unmarked grave survey to locate a burial ground in south-central Edmonton. Chief Bruneau had been looking for the Kaskitewâw Asiskîy (Blackmud creek) burial ground since the mid-1990s to find physical evidence to support their claims. He discovered oral histories suggesting that the burial ground had been in use prior to their second forcible displacement and disputed surrender of the land in 1888. He also conducted interviews with elders who told him that remembrance and burial ceremonies were still being conducted on the survey area as late as the 1970s. The area in question is partially owned by the City of Edmonton and the Taylor College Seminary and is currently under threat of development.
Present Day Rossdale Memorial, next to EPCOR power plant
This was not the first time Chief Bruneau had worked with archaeologists. In the early 2000s, EPCOR (a water services company) tried to expand an existing power plant over the Rossdale burial ground in downtown Edmonton. Thanks to the work of Chief Bruneau, the Papaschase First Nation, and archaeologists, the expansion was stopped. Afterwards, in a new collaboration with the University of Alberta, the remains of Papaschase ancestors that had been held at the university were repatriated to the Rossdale cemetery in 2006.
Satellite Image of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The area of interest is highlighted.
Using archaeological remote sensing techniques, such as ground-penetrating radar, the University of Alberta and Papaschase First Nation conducted an unmarked grave survey at the suspected grave site.
Dale Fisher (Graduate Student-University of Alberta) pulling the ground-penetrating radar at the survey site.
Survey Results and Ongoing Efforts
William Wadsworth, Dr. Kisha Supernant and Katherine Gadd examining some of the historic maps and aerial photographs of the survey area. Photo taken from a CBC article .
In 2019, preliminary efforts were made to locate the Kaskitewâw asiskîy cemetery. Elders, community members, and U of A students were all invited and took part in the survey. While we found some GPR reflections indicative of graves and supportive of their claims, much work is still underway to help characterize the site and inform community history. The remote sensing data did locate some graves where the Elders and community members believed the burials to be, and consequently, future research will continue to work closely with elders to locate other areas of interest.
We are hoping to continue to work with the Papaschase First Nation to identify and protect their ancestral places. This includes working with the Nation, City of Edmonton, and private land owners to mitigate damage to these areas.
Video and News Article of the Investigations
Current Situation
Since losing their reserve land and federal status, Papaschase members have been working tirelessly with nearby First Nations to petition the government for official recognition. Within the last few decades, it became clear that if they were to obtain official status, they would need the recognition of other Treaty Six First Nations. In November 2018, the other First Nations who signed Treaty Six recognized the Papaschase First Nation as being a signing member and First Nation under the Treaty. The following month, the Assembly of First Nations recognized the Papaschase First Nation.
What remains is for the federal government of Canada to recognize the Papaschase First Nation and restore their rights and title. In the meantime, Chief and Council have been focused on rebuilding their nation, establishing a historical land-base, and educating the public about their history.
Blackmud Creek Ravine, Edmonton, Alberta. Photo taken by author.
How we have helped.
Archaeological remote sensing techniques have non-destructively uncovered evidence of Papaschase history and helped to protect the graves of their ancestors. By doing so, we have helped to reconnect people to their past through the creation of new stories, and raise awareness of dark events in Edmonton's past through the creation and publication of reports, news articles and Story Maps. While our work is far from completed, we have empowered the community by teaching members about these techniques in the hopes they might advocate for them as a low impact alternative to archaeology. As we are facing an immeasurable loss of culture due to technological, economic and climate change, these techniques can provide a non-destructive and ethical solution to pursue and protect Indigenous history and culture. Simply, these techniques can build bridges across time and space as they connect individuals to their ancestors and bring communities together through reconciliation and justice.
Hiy Hiy | Thank you
Credits
Created by: William Wadsworth
In consultation with Chief Calvin Bruneau of Papaschase First Nation
All the GIS maps were created by the author. Some of the historic maps were previously georectified by Sarah Cormeau.
Cover photo: Elk Island National Park by Kurt Bauschardt (CC labelled for Reuse)
Geospatial Data Sources: Archaeological Survey of Alberta; Natural Resources Canada (Geogratis); Alberta Energy Regulator; Government of Alberta; University of Alberta Geospatial Data and Maps; ESRI; ArcGIS Online
Historic Photos were courtesy of the Papaschase First Nation, Glenbow Museum, and Provincial Archives of Alberta
All other photos were labelled for reuse under the creative commons licence.
All historic and archival documents used in the creation of this historical work were obtained freely through the Provincial Archives of Alberta and University of Alberta Libraries.
Sources
Conyers, Lawrence B. 2012 Interpreting Ground-penetrating Radar for Archaeology. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, New York.
Gaffney, Christopher, Chad Harris, Finnegan Pope-Carter, James Bonsall, Robert Fry, and Andrew Parkyn. 2015 Still searching for graves: An analytical strategy for interpreting geophysical data used in the search for “unmarked” graves. Near Surface Geophysics 13(6):557–569.
Wadsworth, William T. D., Carl-Georg Bank, Katherine Patton, and Dena Doroszenko. 2020 Forgotten Souls of the Dawn Settlement: A multi-component Geophysical survey of Unmarked Graves at the British American Institute Cemetery. Historical Archaeology, in press.
