The remains are set to be laid to rest at Hillside Cemetery at a yet-to-be-determined date.--NEWS PHOTO KENDALL KING
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Remains of three Indigenous ancestors will return to Medicine Hat to be laid to rest more than five decades after being removed from their original burial ground.
The remains, which are those of an Indigenous woman, as well as a child and infant likely to be Indigenous, were first discovered in July of 1967 near to the city, though the exact circumstances and location of their discovery is still under investigation.
Following discovery, the remains were moved to the University of Alberta and placed in the Department of Anthropology’s osteology museum collection, where they have been housed for the past 56 years.
However, a collaborative project between the City of Medicine Hat, the University of Alberta and Miywasin Friendship Centre, launched Monday and titled the Ancestors Reburial Project, will soon see the remains returned and reburied in a ceremony honouring ancestral traditions.
The project was initiated in 2017 following request from a community member, however its public launch marks the beginning of a community consultation stage.
During this stage, expected to extend from March to April, the project’s community engagement facilitator will travel to First Nations and Metis communities in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan to gather information on ancestral burial traditions; as the exact heritage of the three ancestors is unknown, and therefore the future burial ceremony will necessitate incorporation of a variety of ancestral traditions.
There is not yet timeline of when the burial ceremony will take place, however city interim managing director Brian Stauth confirmed Monday that the burial location will be within Hillside Cemetery, which has provided the land.
Unspecified artifacts discovered with the remains and also housed at the U of A will also be buried with the ancestors.
Financial costs associated with the transportation and burial of the ancestors have been partially covered through a $140,000 funding grant by Heritage Canada in February. All remaining costs will be covered by the partners, with the U of A having already made a contribution of $83,000.
As the project is ongoing, supplemental details will be released as they become available and will be posted on the city’s public Ancestors Reburial Project web page.
Project team members stress the importance of such efforts in honouring Indigenous culture, history and tradition and in moving forward with generational healing and reconciliation.
“It is important that our ancestors’ stories are told and that we take an active partnership in this process,” the Miywasin Friendship Centre said in a statement. “We believe this project will strengthen respectful ties between Miywasin Friendship Centre, the community of Medicine Hat and the Province of Alberta.”
