An equipment operator discovered a burial site believed to be approximately 200 years old in the Prince Albert area. This image does not depict the location (Photo 176626365 © Andrii Tsynhariuk | Dreamstime.com)

By Trevor Redden

Historic Find

Construction project unearths historic burial site near Prince Albert

Oct 30, 2020 | 2:00 PM

A culturally significant burial site was discovered this fall on a construction site in the Prince Albert area.

The site – the location of which has not been publicly identified – contains the remains of five people believed to be of First Nations origin, estimated to date back to the late 1700s or early 1800s.

Dr. Tom Richards, senior archaeologist with the Heritage Conservation Branch of the Government of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport was notified of the discovery shortly after it happened.

“The machine operator who was digging a pit noticed early on in his excavation that he saw what he thought looked like bones,” Richards explained to paNOW, noting the operator immediately contacted the police.

From there, police first contacted the Coroners Service, who were able to determine it was not a crime scene, but instead a historic site. At that point, the Heritage Conservation Branch was involved which led to Richards making the trip to Prince Albert to view the site along with a local First Nations group.

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“We agreed that nobody was going to touch the remains, that we would all just walk around the edges and have a look,” Richards said. “Then it was decided that more First Nations representatives would come. There were quite a few groups represented.”

He explained the First Nations groups then took some time on their own to consider what to do, before notifying Richards that he and another archaeologist could proceed with gathering the remains, record information, and re-burying them on the spot. Richards said there was a ceremony held before they were left to continue.

The final report of the burial is still in progress, but Richards did reveal some initial information based on what was discovered.

“There is speculation that the individuals may have died in an epidemic because of the number of individuals that were buried together. We don’t have a clear understanding of how they died,” Richards said.

The First Nations representatives involved with the discovery chose not to identify themselves nor comment at this time, other than to confirm the burials are sacred to them. They want to have the completed final report on the burials in hand and the future protective and commemorative details for the burial area to have been worked out before they publicly comment further.

Construction on the site was immediately halted and will not be proceeding. Involved parties will continue to develop a plan of how to properly preserve and commemorate the location.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden