Human Rights Museum mistreating First Nations heritage: archeologist
Tuesday, June 17, 2009
CBC News
A retired Manitoba archeologist is accusing the builders of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights of mistreating First Nations heritage.
Leigh Syms, former curator of archeology for the Manitoba Museum, said the national museum is being constructed on one of the richest sites in the province for aboriginal artifacts. Although the museum funded an excavation of the site last summer, Syms said it didn't go far enough.
'I just find it so ironic that human rights museum would mistreat first nations heritage that way.'—Leigh Syms
He said only two per cent of the artifacts buried at the site were recovered because the museum won't foot the bill for a larger dig to retrieve and preserve the remains of aboriginal settlements that date back thousands of years.
Part of the reason for the shortcuts is that Manitoba has one of the weakest heritage regulation bodies in Canada, Syms suggested.
"So, [museum officials] were left up to their own goodwill and they chose to ignore it totally. I just find it so ironic that human rights museum would mistreat first nations heritage that way," he said.
"They did provide money for good excavation for that two per cent but they did not provide money for collections management. [The artifacts were] supposed to go to the Manitoba Museum and as soon as they found there were costs involved they cancelled that.
"So right now they have this small but important collection sitting unnumbered in bags being stored in the basement of some government warehouse."
Insight into historic First Nations lifestyle
Syms said the site could provide a glimpse into what life was like for aboriginal people who occupied the area roughly 1,000 years ago.
Angela Cassie, spokesperson for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, said museum officials met with elders at Thunderbird House, a Winnipeg-based centre for aboriginal spirituality, long before the archeological dig began.
Officials wanted to get the elders' feedback and determine if there were any concerns about the project, she said.
'The crew right now is monitoring every auger that goes into the ground through the depths where cultural layers are expected.'—Angela Cassie, human rights museum spokesperson
"We then undertook a 5 1/2 month dig, which started last June, the largest to have been undertaken on the Forks site," she said. "We invested half a million dollars in last year's dig, funding the first part of the archaeological dig and further analysis of samples, including carbon dating and residue analysis.
"These materials provide a record of past human use and history of the site," she said.
Officials will continue to work with the province and Parks Canada to tell the story of the site, Cassie added. She also said the museum has met all of the requirements set out in Manitoba's legislation for heritage sites.
"The crew right now is monitoring every auger that goes into the ground through the depths where cultural layers are expected," she said. "And where these materials are found, they continue to be tagged and bagged and stored for future testing by interested archeologists.
"There has been some material found in some caissons, but some of the caissons as well have been sterile."
The plans for the museum will see little impact on the cultural layers, Cassie said, noting the building will be constructed on piles, effectively placing the building above the ground and not compressing the earth underneath.
The museum, being built at Winnipeg's historic Forks — a historic gathering place for First Nations people and fur traders — is the first national museum to be built outside of Ottawa. It is scheduled to open in 2012.
Human Rights Museum mistreating First Nations heritage: archeologist
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 | 3:29 PM ET Comments167Recommend82
CBC News
A retired Manitoba archeologist is accusing the builders of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights of mistreating First Nations heritage.
Leigh Syms, former curator of archeology for the Manitoba Museum, said the national museum is being constructed on one of the richest sites in the province for aboriginal artifacts. Although the museum funded an excavation of the site last summer, Syms said it didn't go far enough.
'I just find it so ironic that human rights museum would mistreat first nations heritage that way.'—Leigh Syms
He said only two per cent of the artifacts buried at the site were recovered because the museum won't foot the bill for a larger dig to retrieve and preserve the remains of aboriginal settlements that date back thousands of years.
Part of the reason for the shortcuts is that Manitoba has one of the weakest heritage regulation bodies in Canada, Syms suggested.
"So, [museum officials] were left up to their own goodwill and they chose to ignore it totally. I just find it so ironic that human rights museum would mistreat first nations heritage that way," he said.
"They did provide money for good excavation for that two per cent but they did not provide money for collections management. [The artifacts were] supposed to go to the Manitoba Museum and as soon as they found there were costs involved they cancelled that.
"So right now they have this small but important collection sitting unnumbered in bags being stored in the basement of some government warehouse."
Insight into historic First Nations lifestyle
Syms said the site could provide a glimpse into what life was like for aboriginal people who occupied the area roughly 1,000 years ago.
Angela Cassie, spokesperson for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, said museum officials met with elders at Thunderbird House, a Winnipeg-based centre for aboriginal spirituality, long before the archeological dig began.
Officials wanted to get the elders' feedback and determine if there were any concerns about the project, she said.
'The crew right now is monitoring every auger that goes into the ground through the depths where cultural layers are expected.'—Angela Cassie, human rights museum spokesperson
"We then undertook a 5 1/2 month dig, which started last June, the largest to have been undertaken on the Forks site," she said. "We invested half a million dollars in last year's dig, funding the first part of the archaeological dig and further analysis of samples, including carbon dating and residue analysis.
"These materials provide a record of past human use and history of the site," she said.
Officials will continue to work with the province and Parks Canada to tell the story of the site, Cassie added. She also said the museum has met all of the requirements set out in Manitoba's legislation for heritage sites.
"The crew right now is monitoring every auger that goes into the ground through the depths where cultural layers are expected," she said. "And where these materials are found, they continue to be tagged and bagged and stored for future testing by interested archeologists.
"There has been some material found in some caissons, but some of the caissons as well have been sterile."
The plans for the museum will see little impact on the cultural layers, Cassie said, noting the building will be constructed on piles, effectively placing the building above the ground and not compressing the earth underneath.
The museum, being built at Winnipeg's historic Forks — a historic gathering place for First Nations people and fur traders — is the first national museum to be built outside of Ottawa. It is scheduled to open in 2012. (http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2009/06/16/mb-museum-artifacts-human-rights.htmlhttp://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2009/06/16/mb-museum-artifacts-human-rights.html)
This mud won't stick
Editorial, Winnipeg Free Press
By: Staff Writer
17/06/2009
ARCHEOLOGISTS have been digging in the historic ground at The Forks since 1987, when the land was assembled for what has become the province’s most popular tourist site. In that time, they have uncovered hundreds of thousands of artifacts, such as arrowheads, shards of pottery, the remain of animals cooked at the site, evidence of campfires and one human footprint that was dated at 800 years old. There is no evidence of permanent or long-term habitation and no evidence of burial sites.
Despite all this work and more still to come, however, a few archeologists are complaining that the search for more pottery shards, fish bones and burnt wood at the site of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, where 380,000 objects have been recovered, should continue until it gives up much more of its historical treasures. They also say the museum should be ashamed of itself for bypassing an opportunity to develop a complete picture of aboriginal life at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, a meeting ground for some 8,000 years.
The criticism is grossly unfair and even uninformed. As most archeology students could have explained, a sample from an historical excavation is usually adequate to provide the information needed to develop an understanding of what life was like in the past. Excessive excavation, in fact, is usually discouraged because it can destroy or taint the resource, foreclosing on opportunities that might emerge with the development of new technology and investigative techniques. By essentially capping the site for 100 or 200 years or however long the building stands, the museum is preserving it in a pristine condition for the scientists of the future. There is also a rich vein of historical artifacts beneath the gravel parking lot now used by Canwest Global Park, so there is ample opportunity for more research.
The museum's staff and its builders have relied on the province's heritage experts and aboriginal elders to tell them how to proceed in a respectful manner, and their record has been exemplary in respecting First Nations heritage.
The critics say the province's legislation is weak at protecting heritage resources, even though it compares favourably with other jurisdictions across Canada.
The federal museum deserves better treatment than the dirt that has been heaped upon it. It has obeyed every government edict and spent more than $500,000 digging up ancient objects, some of which are undergoing carbon dating and residue analysis. It has even altered its design to avoid digging into the multiple layers of cultural history.
In short, it will make history without destroying it. (http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/editorial---this-mud-wont-stick-48239542.htmlhttp://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/editorial---this-mud-wont-stick-48239542.html)
Response by Dr. Greg Monks (submitted but not printed by the Free Press)
Yesterday's Free Press web page polled the question whether more money should be spent excavating cultural deposits at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights site. When I voted, there were 1117 responses of which 59% said "yes". The majority of taxpaying citizens who responded wish to see more funding for archaeological mitigation of the archaeological deposits that are to be destroyed by CMHR construction. In the United States, the Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act (1960) calls for 1% of a project budget to be allocated to impact assessment in the planning stage of any project in which the federal government is involved. If Canada had federal archaeological heritage protection legislation, which it doesn't, the same 1% requirement would allocate $2.65 million (now $3.10 million) for archaeology in the planning stage. Under the AHPA, any money not used from that amount could be rolled over into mitigation excavations of the sort undertaken at the Forks last summer. Instead, the CMHR has spent one-fifth to one-sixth of the amount that would be required under US law on impact assessment and mitigation combined. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which Canada voted against, states in Article 11.1 that indigenous peoples have a right to their heritage, which includes artifacts and archaeological materials. The CMHR, which aims to advance the cause of human rights, should set a far higher standard than the minimum required by the province's Historic Resources Act because, as a national museum, it will display to the world Canada's practice in the field of human rights . Maclean's magazine (March 27, 2007) quotes Izzy Asper as follows: '"Canada has a great role to play in the advancement of human rights," Asper says. "Let's not nickle-and-dime it."' It's a shame Mr. Asper's advice is being ignored.
Greg Monks
Digging up dirt on museum
2008 search for artifacts at The Forks 'a tragedy' Winnipeg Free Press By: Lindsey Wiebe
16/06/2009
A group of archeologists is accusing the Canadian Museum for Human Rights of not doing enough to recover and protect the wealth of artifacts beneath its future home at The Forks.
"They decided to do as little as possible, and do a serious injustice to that rich heritage, as far as I'm concerned," said Leigh Syms, the former curator of archeology for the Manitoba Museum, who is now retired.
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Last year, the museum funded an excavation at the site, described as The Forks' largest dig ever.
But Syms, who has worked as an archeologist for 40 years, believes the work to date is "a nickel-and-dime effort" that recovered only a tiny fraction of what lies beneath.
He and others say the museum didn't put enough money into digging up and preserving the remains of aboriginal settlements dating back thousands of years.
They say Manitoba's law on archeological mitigation -- a term for work done to limit the effects of development on archeological remains -- is weak compared to other provinces.
"I think there's such an irony that a human rights museum is essentially treating this material so cavalierly and trying to distance themselves from it," Syms said. "I think there's an important principle here, in terms of rescuing the heritage and making it available."
"I think it's a tragedy," said Gary Wowchuk, a consultant with Western Heritage Services, a company whose work includes doing archeological impact assessments at sites where development is set to take place.
Wowchuk said he supports the museum but believes the site impact wasn't fully considered.
"What we have at The Forks is a really unique situation where you have excellent preservation of material," he said. "You have a lot of occupations, 6,000 years of human history basically represented there, Manitoba history."
Wowchuk is vice-president of the Association of Manitoba Archaeologists, but both he and Syms say they speak only for themselves. Wowchuk said he's tried to raise his concerns for two years, with no progress, and fears more loss of artifacts as construction continues.
"We are aware that there is a segment of the archeological community that's not satisfied," said Canadian Museum for Human Rights spokeswoman Angela Cassie.
Cassie said meetings with those archaeologists haven't been fruitful.
Last year's dig cost around $550,000, Cassie said. Items found over the 200-square-metre space include pottery shards, an 800-year-old human footprint and three palettes on which long-ago inhabitants prepared paint.
Cassie said all archeological material dug up with augers during construction is monitored.
The museum will not have a traditional basement, she said, using piles and caissons for structural support.
"We hope that in the future, technology will allow archeologists to do searches beneath the building."
Items found will be bagged, tagged and stored for future testing, she said.
The museum is in line with provincial standards, but some archeologists think those standards are too low. Syms said provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia require more thorough efforts.
"The Canadian Museum for Human Rights should exhibit and should follow a higher standard than the bare minimum," said University of Manitoba anthropology professor and archeologist Greg Monks, who's worried about artifacts that will be destroyed during construction.
Rules for archeological mitigation in Manitoba are set on a case-by-case basis, said Brian Smith, manager of archeological assessment services for the historic resources branch.
"I'm satisfied that the Museum (for) Human Rights is adhering to the requirements that we've set," said Smith. "I'm also satisfied that the communication between my office and the museum and the construction company are very, very good. They're doing everything that has been and is being required of them."
Smith said beliefs that the museum will cover an entire archeological site are wrong. Some parts of the site have no artifacts. "The actual impact area of the museum is quite small."
Archeologist Sid Kroeker, whose company, Quaternary Consultants Ltd., led the 2008 dig, could not be reached.
Digging up dirt on museum (http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/digging-up-dirt-on-museum-48144282.html)