Storms, cleanup take toll on ancient native sites
Randy Shore
Vancouver Sun
Friday, February 09, 2007
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=f75c7276-7856-4d55-b9ab-64a933c232b6
An ancient native archeological site is in an area heavily damaged by storms
that trashed large parts of Stanley Park this winter.
The park is riddled with ancient native burial grounds, village sites and more
than 100 culturally modified trees and B.C. archeologists are concerned that
cleanup and restoration efforts in the park could damage areas of historical
importance.
Archeological Society of B.C. president Eric McLay says that there are 15 known
sites recorded in the park and warns that the park likely contains many more
undiscovered archaeological sites.
About half the park is recognized by the province as archeologically
significant, said McLay.
One ancient village, Ch'eixwa7elch, north of Lost Lagoon, is known to have been
in an area wiped out by violent windstorms.
Two others were on the edge of areas severely damaged by the storms.
One called Papiyek was located near Brockton Point, and Slhxi7elsh, near Siwash
Rock.
One tree near the Lions Gate Bridge that showed evidence of native bark
harvesting is known to have been destroyed this winter, according to Jim
Lowden, who is heading the park restoration task group.
Stanley Park was closed twice in recent months when violent storms whipped
through the park uprooting, shattering thousands of trees. About 40 hectares of
the park were devastated and the seawall will remain closed until at least this
summer while repairs are completed and the slopes above the popular perimeter
promenade are stabilized. Landslides have already covered parts of the seawall
between Third Beach and Prospect Point.
Road work and building in the park over the past 120 years have already done
irreparable harm to archeological sites. Of the seven known village sites in
the park, one was eradicated by road builders in 1888. Lumberman's Arch was
once the site of a village called Xwayxway. An enormous midden heap of shells
was excavated there and used to pave the carriage path that is now Park Drive,
encircling the park. The shells gave that road a distinctive white colour.
Two sets of human remains believed to be Squamish First Nation nobility were
removed from the park. One skeleton was one of many discovered in 1888 by road
crews working at what is now Lumberman's Arch; the other was removed from the
same area in 1928.
The remains were returned to the first nation only last year after spending
decades stored at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa-Hull. The
remains were re-interred at Brackendale in a ceremony last November.
Park board staff are in the process of transferring hand-drawn maps from
archeological surveys of the park onto an electronic map that will guide how
work crews and heavy equipment will operate in the park as downed trees are
removed.
That same map will contain more than two dozen layers, each representing things
like eagle nesting areas, streams and man-made infrastructure.
"We are aware of where most of the village sites were," Lowden said. But only
the east end of the north Lagoon Drive blowdown site is certain to be a
concern. The Schilhus village site is well to the east of the largest area of
damage to the park at Prospect Point.
"[Disturbing artifacts] is going to be an issue where we have had root wads
tear out," Lowden said. Before any work goes ahead those areas will be tested
for shell content, which could indicate an ancient settlement.
"If we find it, we call in an archeologist and say, 'What do you us to do with
it?'" he said. In most cases, the protocol is to cut the tree trunk, tip the
rootball back into place and leave it as undisturbed as possible.
McLay is more concerned that the use of heavy equipment for slope stabilization
and tree removal could damage undiscovered archaeological sites.
Lowden said that ground-based tree removal will be done using long-armed
cranes, which lift the logs rather than drag them across the forest floor.
Officials from the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh (also known as the Burrard Band)
nations are consulting with the park restoration task group on how
archeological sites are to be treated and on cultural uses for the massive
cedar tress that fell during this winter's wind and snow storms.
Chief Bill Williams says he expects to be contacted if restoration work
threatens any of the ancient sites identified by the Squamish First Nation.
"They have a fairly detailed map of the sites ... if there are any areas that
have to be modified then we will deal with that specific issue when it occurs,"
Williams said.
The restoration task group has tentatively scheduled a stakeholders' meeting
for next Thursday to review some of the strategies being considered for the
rebuilding effort. Lowden expects representatives from the Stanley Park Ecology
Society, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, the Squamish and
Tsleil-Waututh nations, Parks Canada and B.C. Society of Landscape Architects
to attend.
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CREWS ATTEMPT TO MINIMIZE DAMAGE
While the restoration task group completes a comprehensive plan to clean up
winter storm damage in Stanley Park, crews are already busy trying to minimize
the harm that has already occurred.
Two crews are still working full time to clear major trails in Stanley Park.
Trails east of the causeway in the areas of Brockton Point, Lumberman's Arch
and Beaver Lake are open and trails west of the causeway are within weeks of
being reopened, said Jim Lowden of the restoration task group.
Staff are also meticulously checking all the trees within 50 metres of the
paths for damage that could cause them to fall across a trail.
To protect the forest from further wind damage, crews are selectively pruning
branches from several hundred trees along the edges of the blowdown areas.
Trees inside the forest are weaker and have less developed root systems than
trees on the edges, which are regularly buffeted by the wind. With so many of
the stronger edge trees uprooted by storms, those that are left are vulnerable.
"You go up the tree in a corkscrew fashion and take off every third limb in the
first few ranks of trees," Lowden explained. "Then when the wind hits, instead
of the first tree taking the full impact, the wind is dissipated in the first
few layers of trees with fewer branches."
At Prospect Point, workers armed with picks and shovels are digging channels to
guide rainwater away from unstable slopes and thin rain forest soils.
"The soil is way too wet to use heavy equipment," Lowden said. In order to
minimize damage to roots and the subterranean pipes in forest soil that form as
old tree roots rot away leaving a natural system of drainage.
Ran with fact box "Crews Attempt to Minimize Damage", which has been appended
to the end of the story.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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