Trans Canada Highway Expansion Comes To a Halt After More Ancestral Secwepemc Remains Found
(November 4, 2013, unsurrendered Secwepemc Territory)
On Friday, November 1, 2013, Secwepemc visited the site of the newly unearthed remains of an 8,700 year old ancestor. This burial site is also the site of an ancient village and the oldest to date found in BC. There was also a grizzly bear mound alter found at this site.
The ancestral remains were unearthed by archeologists, from the province. The province is pushing through a major highway expansion from Monte Creek to the Alberta border. This highway cuts through our valley and Secwepemc ancient and current village sites, as well as, Sacred sites to the Secwepemc.
There are currently three burial sites that have been unearthed by archeologists. One was found in 2009 and was the site of a burial of a woman dating back 6,000 years ago. This site was of great controversy because of the push by the province to get carbon testing done on the remains. Which would have meant taking body parts from our ancestor, a group of strong Secwepemc Women stopped it.
Secwepemc territory map
Now what has happened is the province has moved ahead to push this highway expansion through, on November 1, when the Secwpemc arrived to this specific site of the 6,000 year old ancestor, there was a crane and other heavy machinery ready to move our ancestors remains 8 metres deep, so they may go ahead with their highway expansion. The Secwepemc told them to pack up there equipment and move out.
This site now has a Sacred Fire and the Secwepemc are asking for everyone to come to honour our ancestors and bring their prayers, offerings, bundles and songs. We are calling on all pipe carriers and hand drummers to come to the Sacred Fire. We have the Sacred Fire lit and we asking everyone to come on Monday, November 4 to Thursday, November 7, 2013. We are asking everyone that can’t make it to our Sacred Fire to hold ceremonies in their Traditional Territories.
The location of the Sacred Fire is approximately 5 km west of the Pritchard store at one of the burial sites, the other burial site is approximately 2 km from the fire.
The Trans Canada Highway expansion is not only threatening to cut through our Ancestors burial grounds but there is also a very significant, Sacred site for Secwepemc, at Hoffman’s Bluff that is also at risk of being blown up. This spiritually and culturally significant site has a Secwepemc story that tells us about a giant rat that lives there and can not by any means be disturbed, or the fate of the Secwepemc will fall.
Secwepemc territory is one of the largest in ‘BC’.
As Secwepemc it is our responsibility to defend and protect our Secwepemc Laws, including respect of our Ancestors and their final resting place. We respect the burial ceremonies that took place to lay our Ancestors to rest. We will not disturb them, let their spirits be able to rest the way they were meant to.
The stance that the Secwepemc have always taken and stand by today, is that our Secwepemc Territory is uncceded, unsurrendered, and therefore, the province of BC, nor the government of Canada, has no authority or jurisdiction over our Lands because we, Secwepemc are the true land and title holders.
Please support our stance to defend our Ancestors.
Contact: Miranda Dick nymcommunications@gmail.com
Some background info:
Highway dig turns up artifacts
Band-led archeological assessment suggests one continuous heritage site, chief says
By MIKE YOUDS, Kamloops Daily News, Aug 31, 2011
Every shell, bone fragment, arrowhead and stone that turns up in an archeological survey underway along the Trans-Canada Highway between Pritchard and Chase is being carefully recorded and preserved.
“Everything’s significant,” said Gord Moore, project manager for Terra Archeology. “Archeology’s like a puzzle and so that every artifact we find is another piece of the puzzle.”
Work at the site began two weeks ago as Terra, hired by Sexqeltkemc – the Lakes Division of the Secwepemc Nation – began mechanically stripping away land to reach subsurface levels.
Field technicians from the various bands involved – Neskonlith, Tk’emlups, Little Shuswap, Adams Lake and Splatsin – comb through the excavations looking for any signs of human existence. They’ve found plenty so far.
The project was an unexpected complication of highway upgrading along the stretch, upgrades that initially were supposed to proceed two years ago. Then, in 2009, human remains were found at a burial site discovered on a knoll next to the highway. Those remains were carbon dated at 1649 A.D., or prior to contact with Europeans.
That finding halted construction planning as First Nations set about negotiating a process whereby ancestral remains, spiritual values and archeological work could be accommodated.
“We’ve been working on a government-to-government basis since 2009 to address concerns around ancestral remains because this corridor is a cradle of civilization in Secwepemc territory,” said Chief Judy Wilson on a visit to the site Tuesday.
Extensive archeological work has been done in the past in the same area. Most notably, Gore Creek Man, at 8,200 years the oldest human remains ever found anywhere in Canada, was discovered on the opposite shore of the South Thompson River. A partially completed oral history of the area needs more work and could take decades to assemble, Wilson said.
“We’re learning as we go, through talks with the Ministry of Transportation and local government, so all of us have had to be very creative and very patient.”
What is significant about this project is that it lays the groundwork for future archeological work in traditional Secwepemc territory extending from Monte Creek to the Alberta border, she noted.
“Basically, what we’re finding is a continuous heritage site along the corridor.”
Evidence found so far at the site includes a hand maul (a heavy hammer) about a foot in length – an uncommon find, says archeologist Moore; “diagnostic bi-face,” commonly known as arrowheads; deeply-based midden deposits, including freshwater mussel shells; and animal remains.
Indications are that the river, now about a half-kilometre away, rippled right past the knoll in ancient times.
Moore also pointed to a fist-sized chunk of rhyolite, a mineral used for tool-making that is not naturally found in the immediate area.
“In 15 years, I’ve never seen a cache of them like this,” Moore said. “There’s a huge source in the Arrowstone hills outside of Cache Creek. It’s a very high likelihood this came from there.”
The maul was not a tool that early residents would have left behind. Rather, it would have been handed down from generation to generation.
“When we approach archeology, it’s not just about artifacts,” Wilson said. “More important are the spiritual values of the land, the stories, legends and historical accounts.”
Their belief system is based on a continuum, meaning ancestral remains must be held sacrosanct.
“Our culture’s alive. It’s continuing in the past, present and future. To us, time isn’t linear. It’s all around us and our ancestors are still with us.”
Blockade on Unceded Secwepemc Territory between Chase & Kamloops
Wednedsay April 1, 2009
The blockade itself has been postponed to a later time based on spiritual guidance and advice. A continuous camp presence, however, is currently being maintained and ceremonies for protection and guidance are being conducted. Police helicopters are circling above and RCMP is around the area.
[[Reposting]]
NATIVE YOUTH MOVEMENT
INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT
APRIL 1ST, 2009
Unceded Secwepemc Territory, between Kamloops and Chase, bc, kkkanada
KKKANADA–STOP THE NEW WESTWARD EXPANSION
THE GENOCIDE CONTINUES WITH THE DESECRATION OF OUR ANCIENT SECWEPEMC BURIAL AND VILLAGE SITES FOR HIGHWAY & RAILWAY EXPANSION
The Secwepemc Peoples and their allies will be conducting a roadblock today to demand the halt of the Trans Canada Highway and Canadian Pacific Railway expansion through the highway corridor along the South Thompson River and Shuswap Lakes. The expansion of these two major federal and provincial transportation systems has been involved in the desecration of our ancestral burial and village sites, as well as, the continued genocide of our Peoples.
We, as Indigenous Peoples, have the right to have the spirits of our ancestors rest in peace in their original resting place. We will not give up our principles and values for the benefits of a highway or railway. The desecration to our graves and burial sites is considered a hate crime against humanity and a violation of our Indigenous and human rights.
The picture goes much deeper than this however, since kkkanada and the province of british Columbia have no legal authority to be making decisions about our Secwepemc Territory and giving permission to the CP Railway and Trans Canada Hwy to expand onto unceded Secwepemc lands. The Secwepemc Peoples still remain a distinct Nation and hold there ground to defend their rights and title to these lands.
The new westward expansion of highways, railways, pipelines and fibre optic lines all go through Indian Territories and Reserves, these infrastructures are all used for the benefit of the continued invasion and theft of our last remaining lands, water and “resources.” The transportation system in the past was used to colonize the west and now our lands have become the new frontier for the new age of development: mining, tourism, logging, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the Tar Sands, these are all the elite that will benefit from the transportation route expansion, while the Indigenous Peoples are being threatened once again.
The Canadian Pacific Railway, known as CP Rail, is mainly a freight railway now, was instrumental in the settlement and development of Western Canada. The CP company became one of the largest and most powerful in Canada, a position it held as late as 1975. CP Rails network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City.
The Trans Canada Highway system was approved by the Trans-Canada Highway Act of 1948, construction commenced in 1950, officially opened in 1962, and was completed in 1971. This federal-provincial highway system joins all ten provinces of Canada.
WE have never given permission to Canada, nor BC to build this highway or railway through our lands, it has actually cut our access to our sacred water and forcibly removed out Peoples from our traditional village sites and kekuli’s (underground homes), which are forms of Genocide.
The ancestors remains found by a team of archaeologists have been dated back 7,500 years and the Secwepemc woman was found holding a traditional root digging stick, surrounded by Secwepemc artifacts and ceremonial items. Since contact there has been into the tens of thousands of artifacts and remains found and now are in the hands of museums all over the world.
The Secwepemc have conducted ceremonies at the site and the Sacred fire has been lit and the protection of the site is under vigilance.
STOP THE DESTRUCTION AND THEFTT OF OUR LANDS AND SACRED BURIAL SITES. OUR SECWEPEMC ANCESTORS ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR. WE WOULD NEVER DIG UP SOMEONE ELSES GRAVE OR CEMETARY AND IT WOULD NEVER BE TOLERATED, WELL WHY SHOULD WE BE THE ONES TO ALWAYS BOW DOWN AND PUSH OUR PRINCIPLES ASIDE FOR THE BENEFITS OF OTHERS, WHEN THIS IS OUR HOMELAND.
CANADA WILL NOT GET OUR PERMISSION TO DESTROY OUR SACRED SITES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ELITE GREEDY FOR MONEY.
Posted on November 4, 2013, in Uncategorized and tagged ancestral remains, Secwepemc, Secwepemc ancestral remains, Trans Canada Highway expansion. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
Warrior Publications 
The arrogance of some Shuswap to assume the remains are all from their tribe is obvious and old…they are Indigenous remains and the tribal origin is irrelevant…the Yawassanay band have resided in the very same region for unaccountable number of years trading, intermarrying, warring with many other tribes that used that region as a major route of travel…the remains can be moved…the spirit has moved on long ago and the bones belong to the mother…but before any more highwaywork continues this must be done in an appropriate manner and considering the facts that Shuswaps like most BC interior tribes are poor when it comes to retention of language, traditions and their own spirituality..other tribes can and should assist, nothing worse than some wannabe sioux shuswap, okanagon, Nlaka’ Pamux St’At’Imc imitating another tribes ways…taking the ignorant approach similar to that of UBCIC of making ridiculous statements is not how our ancestors lived..they lived in harmony with all things and changed when change was required…and they worked with each other and there are no more suitable occasions than repatriating our ancestors…put the egos away
“Originally from Manitoba, the [Yawassanay] band relocated to British Columbia between 1660 and 1665 following tribal warfare with the Iroquois and Lakota.” – http://www.ammsa.com/publications/ravens-eye/band-awaits-recognition-federal-government
I always laugh when any tribe claims this is their territory from here to there..it speaks of fostering colonial attitudes reinforced by the INAC mentality. All and any Indigenous tribe have inherent rights to land anywhere on Turtle Island and claiming remains as being one of their ancestors in their territory continues the effort of immigrant governments to divide and conquer us. The wrongful recognition of legal authority of INAC elected community, tribal , provincial and federal native governace reinforces this ongoing genocide. These remains are Indigenous and as we are stewards of the land these attitudes and beliefs of territorial ownership and tribal authority only shows how white many of our people think and comduct themselves.