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Archaeology
Collaboration between SFU and Tse’k’wa Heritage Society expands with new youth-focused education materials
A set of free educational resources are the result of a long-standing collaboration between Simon Fraser University and the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society, working together to understand and share the history of the Dane-zaa peoples at Tse’k’wa.
Tse’k’wa, — or “rock house” in Dane-zaa — a cave near Charlie Lake, B.C. is an archaeological site preserving over 12,000 years of human history and connecting people to this place shortly after glaciers melted at the end of the last Ice Age.
SFU archaeologist Jon Driver was invited to work on the 1983 excavation at Tse’k’wa by Knut Fladmark, a colleague of Driver’s in the Department of Archaeology, before leading later excavations in 1990 and 1991.
“I had just arrived at SFU, and my specialty was in analyzing animal bones from archaeological sites,” recalls Driver. “I was asked to join the project because Knut knew he would find animal bones. What he did not expect, was how deep the site was and how old it would be.”
While initial excavations began inside the cave, the team quickly learned that the real depth of archaeological knowledge lay just in front of the cave entrance in a nearly four-metre-deep, gully-like fissure in the Earth’s surface.
“It had been filled with 12,500 years of sediments of various kinds, so when digging started, we just went down and down, deeper and deeper, and artifacts got older and older,” says Driver.
Driver explains that because Tse’k’wa is situated on the slope of a steep, rocky hill, sediment that washed down the hillside covered artifacts and animal bones very quickly, resulting in exceptional preservation.
One of the early standout findings was a “fluted” spear point — common across the USA but in 1983 the first to be found in Canada at a stratified site that could be confidently radiocarbon dated.
“It’s one of the oldest kinds of artifacts that you find in North America. At the same time, we’re also finding these bison bones that are bigger than a modern bison,” says Driver. “So, we’re pretty sure we’re into deposits formed at the end of the Ice Age.”
Excavations at the site also uncovered evidence of early belief systems that included ritual burials of ravens, gave insights into the environment of the past, and proved trade relationships existed between other communities and much more.
After the 1991 excavations Driver and his graduate students focused on analysis and publication. Over 20 years later, and unknown to Driver, the land on which the site is located went on the market and three Dane-zaa Nations joined together to form the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society to purchase the land and manage the site.
In 2014, Driver was invited to work with the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society to make the archaeological research more accessible and relevant to Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in northeastern British Columbia. This included digitizing all activities and findings from the site for public access through a digital repository at the SFU Library and more recently, the repatriation of belongings back home to the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society in 2024.
Paired with traditional knowledge, the picture of life at Tse’k’wa becomes more clear. For example, the scientific evidence of giant bison is confirmed by Dane-zaa stories of times when giant animals walked the earth. In turn, the “sucker” fish bones found at the site are explained through Dane-zaa accounts of people fishing for the species at nearby locations.
While today Tse’k’wa is an example of the benefits of combining scientific and traditional knowledge, Driver notes that the project began with a much narrower scope, evolving greatly over the years. He adds that this is reflective of a transformation the discipline has undergone since excavations began at Tse’k’wa nearly 50 years ago.
"One of the biggest changes in North American archaeology over the last 30 or 40 years has been the realization that non-Indigenous archaeologists have a responsibility to work with the people whose ancestors they are studying. This means designing research programs that are relevant to both the archaeologists and to the Indigenous communities,” says Driver. "By working together, we can achieve results that are useful for everyone involved in the research.”
The newest initiative, announced earlier this week in a press release from the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society, is a set of educational resources designed to demonstrate to youth the power of combining scientific and traditional knowledge for understanding our past.
“Elders and traditional knowledge holders can provide greater context for materials that archaeologists may not be able to identify based on science alone...In turn, archaeologists can provide critical scientific information that may not be recorded in oral histories,” Alyssa Currie, executive director of the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society, shares in these resources.
Titled Combining Scientific and Traditional Knowledge at Tse’k’wa, these resources were developed by Futurum Careers in collaboration with Driver and the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society, and include an educational magazine article, workbook, PowerPoint and animated video.
Distributed globally and available online, these resources are designed to introduce young people to human history at Tse’k’wa, the field of archaeology and heritage management and career opportunities. All schools in the Peace River region will be provided with these materials and teachers will be encouraged to build curriculum based on local archaeological discoveries and Indigenous knowledge.
“I think it will show students that there are job opportunities if they decide to study archaeology, and that those jobs can be based in local communities, as well as in universities or museums,” says Driver. “I hope that the resources will encourage students to think more about Indigenous communities and how those communities maintain their cultural identity while being part of a more globalized world.”