District of Barriere
Shortly before Christmas the District of Barriere sewage collection contractor, Lower Nicola Backhoe, began work on the statutory right-of-way over the Crown lands lying to the northeast of the corner of Station and Airfield Roads along the old airstrip.
District of Barriere had applied for and been given statutory right of way over these Crown lands. During the statutory application process, Simpcw First Nation requested that District of Barriere hire a person to provide archeological monitoring. Estsek’ Environmental Services was recommended by Simpcw First Nation to provide this service and was subsequently hired by the District.
On Dec. 19 a small lithic chip, the size of a dime, was discovered by the archeological monitor in one of the excavated piles. It was removed to the Simpcw First Nation offices. The project was due to shut down for the holiday season and for safety reasons the excavation was back-filled for the holidays.
At the request of District of Barriere an archaeologist from Terra Archaeology Ltd came to the area on Tuesday, Jan. 7, to meet with representatives from District of Barriere, Simpcw First Nation and the contractor doing the work. The authenticity of the lithic chip presented was confirmed.
The site could now be considered a potential archaeological site and further to that possibility any alteration to lands in the area may require a permit from the provincial government. The archaeologist is now working with the Archaeological Branch of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations to arrive at options for next steps. District of Barriere has provided any information on the project that may be helpful in determining the scope of any further archaeological work that may be required.
In order to pay respect to the possibility of this are being a potential archaeological site, further excavation work will not resume until District of Barriere has reviewed the options for possible next steps provided by the Archaeological Branch of Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
