The old off-leash dog park below the Saamis Tepee is seen in this 2018 file photo. Only a couple years after efforts were made to preserve the archaeological value of the Saamis Site, the South Eastern Alberta Archaeological Society says the area is showing signs of restoration.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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Wendy Unfreed from the Alberta Archaeological Survey will be virtually joining members of the South Eastern Alberta Archaeological Society and other Hatters to give an update regarding the Saamis Site.
The Zoom meeting is scheduled for May 19 with a business meeting starting at 7 p.m. followed by Unfreed’s presentation at 8 p.m.
“She’s going to give us an update on what was done, the impact and perhaps more importantly there was a lot of misinformation about the site,” said Bruce Shepard, president of the SEAAS. “So, we thought we’d have Wendy down and she can talk about the various sites, why they’re important and why we need to save them.”
The Saamis Site is a group of archaeological sites located in the coulee below the Saamis Tepee and goes from the highway all the way around to the golf course, says Shepard.
“Some of them are very ancient hunting sites; one site in particular is very interesting because there were trade goods found with it, but the dating took it to a period prior to when European traders, or their descendants would have been this far inland, and yet there were European trade goods,” he said. “So clearly the people who were here were trading with others, suggesting a network of trade to the east coast or the Hudson’s Bay. There’s only a handful of those sites in Alberta and we have one of those right here.”
Shepard says there is a lot of potential for the site and for tourism in the Hat. He says a lot of people travel to see authentic sites and the Saamis Site is just that.
“Here we are in Medicine Hat, we have an authentic archaeological site that is connected to the Indigenous people who were originally here, it’s right on the Trans-Canada Highway, it’s right next to the symbolic teepee, right next to the tourism booth and we weren’t saving it,” said Shepard.
The site was previously being used as an off-leash dog park when the SEAAS noticed some damage to the topsoil as well as riparian damage along the creek. This led to the city regulating traffic at the site and Shepard says people now use the path and dogs are on leash. He adds the area is stabilizing, and the progress can be seen just a couple of years later.
“The riparian damage, the area along the creek where basically the green is, it’s come back tremendously over the last couple of years. There’s now shrubs and bushes and cattails and all kinds of growth through there. And we’re going to find out from Wendy whether there has been any additional damage to the archaeology,” he said.
All SEAAS members will receive an email with a link to the meeting, but anyone who wants to join the meeting can request an invitation by calling 403-527-5440 or emailing shepardb@telus.net. Shepard adds you don’t have to be a member to join the meeting, but memberships are available at $10 per person or $15 for a family.
