Image Credit: FILE PHOTO April 25, 2021 - 9:00 AM The history of Riverside Park is being uncovered as the Tk emlúps Indian Band collaborates with the City of Kamloops before revitalization projects begin at the park this fall, and the waterfront is built up for flood prevention. Tk emlúps Indian Band Archaeologist Leslie LeBourdais s work during archaeological impact assessments last summer solidifies the park as more than a popular waterfront park, but an important piece of cultural heritage at the confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers. When you look at it now you assume it s always been a park, until you peel back the layers. It s had multiple uses and occupations, LeBourdais said. That piece of land has seen many different footprints that span thousands and thousands of years. It s transformed, but it s always been a place of gathering.
An image outlining the locations shows one site to the left of the Riverside Park pier, two sites between the pier and the Sandman Centre parking lot and one site directly to the north of the Sandman Centre parking lot. “Not to our surprise, there was intact deposits throughout the park,” LeBourdais said. “Even though these were just sort of a limited area where our testing was conducted, we recovered some incredible data.” LeBourdais said the sites show continuous occupation of the land for up to 4,000 years. Diagnostic and historic artifacts were recovered, including one that showed social gatherings occurred in that area.
Every province has its own version of the HCA, so one must be aware of the provincial regulations specific to their work environment. Creating regulations for the conservation of heritage property in British Columbia started back in the 1860s. At that time, archaeological processes were focused on colonial regulations and were not developed in consultation with First Nations. In the 1960s, new regulations were created, but collaboration with First Nations was still absent. Following the rise of cultural resource management in the early 1970s, the first version of the HCA we know today was written in 1977 and is currently administered by the BC Archaeology Branch.
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If only I could have a dollar for every time I am asked why there is no easy way for a non-archaeologist to determine if there is a recorded archaeological site on a property. It should be easy, . . .