Farmers and ranchers important stewards of prairie history

By Tim Kalinowski, Staff Writer

 

As Alberta and Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers own or lease most of the remaining natural grasslands on the prairies, there is a better than average chance they will have teepee rings, petroglyph carvings or stone monuments and other effigies on their lands dating back to this region’s First Nations past.

Some are kept in secret and others are public knowledge. Not all First Nations sites are considered significant, but others are priceless monuments to pre-settlement history.

The Booker family is one of several families near Empress on the Alberta/ Saskatchewan border which are very much aware of the importance of their roles as stewards and protectors of many of those priceless monuments and effigies. Important sites in the area include the Roy Rivers Medicine Wheel, the Cabri Lake Stone Effigy and the Hugo Drosch Buffalo Jump.

For five generations now the Bookers have looked after the well-known Roy Rivers Medicine Wheel, (named after the original family member who owned the land the Medicine Wheel exists upon). The wheel is estimated to be 3,000-5,000 years-old, and remains a place of pilgrimage for First Nations groups to this day.

Rachel Booker and her husband Wayne are the current owners. She says she and her husband are very much aware of the responsibility they bear.

“We’re privileged to have these sites placed within our sphere of influence,” says Booker. “We are stewards of this history. We want to respect the sites and maintain their integrity. We also want to be able to share the sites and protect them. Do we agree with all of the interpretations and history that supposedly belong with these sites? Not necessarily. But that doesn’t mean we cannot acknowledge the fact that we have these remarkable historic records (in stone), and honour and preserve them.”

Her family has always chosen to be open and welcoming of both archeologists and the public over the years.

“Since the 1960s when my mother-in-law Mrs. Velma Booker married into the area, she did tours for archeologists, Native groups, school groups and archeological groups. When she was contacted she would go out with them to the site and explain what she knew of it, and let those visitors an opportunity to look at it and interact the area around the site to get a feeling of the history.

“After she passed away in 2006, it passed to both Wayne and myself to not only be the stewards but also the cultural guides for that site.”

Booker admits there have been some hassles associated with being so open.

“Over the years we have had people just kind of wander across, and they will come in either by route of the river or on top of the hills and have not asked permission,” explains Booker. “It causes concern because we are a working pasture. And also over the last couple of summers, when it has been extremely dry, the river hills have been just a tinder box.

“When people just go in on their own sometimes they drive way too close to the sites, and we have even had people pick up rocks as souvenirs from the site, in which case the  integrity would be damaged. Or sometimes people coming in may try to do a ritual which may or may not be in keeping with the historical context of the site.”

However, in her family’s mind the pros certainly outweigh the cons.

“We have met some absolutely phenomenal people,” affirms Booker. “People who have travelled widely and have a vast knowledge; who are more than willing to share. We have some these people come to our farm and we have had enjoyable meals with them and kept in contact afterward.

“My mother and father-in-law, for example, got to travel to Scotland and see some the ancient sites over there as a result of one visit. And also down to the States. There was a reciprocal sharing of these sites. So it has enriched us, and there are so many pluses.”

The Bookers have also enjoyed a respectful relationship with archeologists studying the Medicine Wheel for decades.

“They have always been the first to say the landowners have done a phenomenal job all of these years of maintaining and protecting the integrity of these sites,” explains Booker. “We all have those sites (in our area) that are not mentioned in the archeologists’ presentations; and we won’t mention. I think there is a good balance. We have been working with archeologists for several of them, and they have been excellent about respecting our wishes and our privacy. These sites are documented, but unless we have given them specific permission they have not said anything about some of these other (more sensitive) sites.”

Booker says whether or not to officially report archeological sites or finds is up to individual landowners, but, for her part, she is glad that the Roy Rivers Medicine Wheel, and other well-known local sites, have been so well-documented.

“By registering these more important sites that means they will be documented and protected,” confirms Booker. “If you think there are places on your land that are significant and you don’t feel comfortable with people either accessing them, or else because of some the implications of development in that area, then maybe try to document them within your own family and leave it for a future time when you feel comfortable sharing.”

Booker stresses what archeologists have often told her family over the decades: Not all First Nations sites are academically significant.

“Throughout this area there are thousands and thousands of teepee rings. All teepee rings are not significant. In terms of getting your land ready, and even seeding land, a lot of these teepee rings have been ploughed under. Not every site is going to be significant and worth preserving.”

And just because you might have a more significant site on your land, says Booker, does not mean you can’t conduct your normal cattle operations.

“For the most part these sites are on areas that are not going to be cultivated anyway because they are usually on the hills. And if the buffalo roamed this area for millennia then the cows going through is not going to be much different.”

Those with questions about an archeological site or find on their land can call Alberta’s “Report a Find” hotline at 780-438-8506. In Saskatchewan the number is 306-787-5772. If you are in the Empress area and wish to check out the Roy Rivers Medicine Wheel and other local archeological sites for yourself you can call the Village of Empress office at 403-565-3938.

“We have met some absolutely phenomenal people,” says Booker. “People who have travelled widely and have a vast knowledge; who are more than willing to share. We have some these people come to our farm and we have had enjoyable meals with them and kept in contact afterward. My mother and father-in-law, for example, got to travel to Scotland and see some the ancient sites over there as a result of one visit. And also down to the States. There was a reciprocal sharing of these sites. So it has enriched us and there are so many pluses.”

The Bookers have also enjoyed a respectful relationship with archeologists studying the Medicine Wheel for decades.

“They have always been the first to say the landowners have done a phenomenal job all of these years of maintaining and protecting the integrity of these sites,” explains Booker. “We all have those sites (in our area) that are not mentioned in the archeologists’ presentations, and we won’t mention. I think there is a good balance. We have been working with archeologists for several of them, and they have been excellent about respecting our wishes and our privacy. These sites are documented, but unless we have given them specific permission they have not said anything about some of these other (more sensitive) sites.”

Booker says whether or not to officially report these kinds of archeological sites or finds is up to individual landowners, but for her part she is glad that the Roy Rivers Medicine Wheel, and other local sites, have been so well-documented.

“By registering these more important sites that means they will be documented and protected,” confirms Booker. “If you think there are places on your land that are significant and you don’t feel comfortable with people either accessing them, or else because of some the implications of development in that area, then maybe try to document them within your own family and leave it for a future time when you feel comfortable sharing.”

Booker stresses what archeologists have often told her family over the decades: Not all First Nations sites are academically significant.

“Throughout this area there are thousands and thousands of teepee rings. All teepee rings are not significant. In terms of getting your land ready, and even seeding land, a lot of these teepee rings have been ploughed under. Not every site is going to be significant and worth preserving.”

And just because you might have a more significant site on your land, says Booker, does not mean you can’t conduct your normal cattle operations.

“For the most part these sites are on areas that are not going to be cultivated anyway because they are usually on the hills. And if the buffalo roamed this area for millennia then the cows going through is not going to be much different.”

Those with questions about an archeological site of find on their land can call Alberta’s “Report a Find” hotline at 780-438-8506. In Saskatchewan the number is 306-787-5772. If you are in the Empress area and wish to check out the Roy Rivers Medicine Wheel and other local archeological sites for yourself you can call the Village of Empress office at 403-565-3938.