What We Are Working On: Report from the Field:
Archaeology, 2007
Archaeology Report 1 (Stanley Mission, Old Village 2007 Excavations)
Margaret Hanna, archaeologistMonday, June 25:
The van is full as Evelyn and I leave Regina for our final season of excavating at Stanley Mission. First, we stop at Saskatoon to pick up Karmen and her gear, as well as a satellite phone (there is no cell phone coverage at Stanley Mission). It's raining while we're in Saskatoon, but the skies clear as we approach La Ronge. We pull into Stanley Mission about 6:30 pm. Bernice Roberts, one of the band councilors, leads us to our home away from home—a 3-bedroom house complete with comfy furniture and even a microwave. This year, we each get our own bedroom. We unload all our personal and kitchen gear and get established.
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Tuesday, June 26:
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According to the weather report on CBC radio, we are experiencing “light rain!” Ha! Rain is pouring out of the heavens. No going to the site today; instead, we stop at the band office and arrange for a boat to take our equipment across the river, tomorrow. We stop briefly to say hello to Elizabeth Charles, one of the Elders, and then head into La Ronge. We check e-mail, do some shopping, and visit with Lois Dalby, one of the members of the La Ronge Historical Society that has been so supportive of our working the La Ronge/Stanley Mission area. By the time we return to Stanley Mission, the rain has mostly stopped. We discover a lake in front of our house. |
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Wednesday, June 27:
Sunshine.
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This year, we plan to excavate selected portions of the interior of the house that the Elders say was Murdoch McKenzie's. According to the Elders, Mr. McKenzie had a stove as well as the stone fireplace, his furniture was placed along the walls, and he had a door into an adjoining lean-to which served as his store. He also had a trap door in the centre of the floor that gave access to a root cellar. The purpose of our excavations is to see if we can find these features. We also want to excavate some of the area in front of the house to locate activity areas such as cooking and smoking fires. A big order for the three of us to accomplish in the next 5-1/2 weeks.
Thursday, June 28:
Sunny, hot, no wind.
Evelyn is excavating the south side of the chimney/fireplace; Karmen is excavating a portion of the south wall, and I am working in what we think is a doorway in the east wall. By the end of the day, Evelyn has found the first of the rocks that form the chimney, Karmen has found the top of the log that forms the south wall, and I am starting to find floorboards along the east wall.
We are enjoying all the bird life around us—pelicans, great blue herons, bald eagles, and ravens. Evelyn has developed a great talent for imitating ravens; we've started calling her Raven Caller. We are not enjoying the horse flies and deer flies that take great delight in carving large chunks of flesh out of us each time they bite.
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Today's east wind is making up for the lack of wind over the last couple of days. Just before noon, a great gust of wind blows down our tarp shelter. Evelyn's comment: “At least it stopped that infernal flapping!” We put it back up after lunch, and install two strong guy ropes to brace it against the wind.
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I am now working on two units simultaneously, hoping to find the doorstep in front on the door. The 1916 photo of Barbara Hardlotte's and Maria McKenzie's houses has become our primary reference for trying to interpret what we are finding in the ground. In this photo, the doorstep consists of a few planks laid across a couple of logs. I am finding lots of wood—squared logs, in fact—but nothing that corresponds to what we see in this photograph. We become even more confused when I start finding a squared log that runs at right angles to the wall.
Exterior of two log houses, Stanley Mission, 1916.
Photograph courtesy of Saskatchewan Archives Board
Evelyn is now down to the thick ash deposit in the firebox, and begins excavating around the firebox to find the floor. Karmen definitely has the south wall of the house, but no floor planks have appeared yet.
Saturday, June 30:
This morning, we wake up to overcast skies, strong northeast winds and no power, which means NO COFFEE! We go to the dock, but after seeing the white caps on the river we decide not to canoe over to the site. There's no one at Jim's Camps to take us over on a boat, so we decide to stay at the house today and clean and rebag artifacts. Just as well—by 11:00 the waves were even higher and the rain was coming down in sheets.
Sunday, July 1:
The morning started off cool, overcast, and windless. By afternoon, it was sunny, hot, muggy and still windless.
My units are becoming more and more confusing. I am now finding a layer of planks that run parallel to the house wall, but that are under the squared log I found yesterday that is perpendicular to the house wall. They also lie about 20 cm below what we thought was the doorway. On the less confusing side, I find some pieces of china with a very pretty blue pattern.
More logs appearing in front of east wall of house.
In the evening, we make chocolate cake to celebrate Canada Day.
Monday, July 2:
Sunny, hot, muggy, no breeze.
Today, we experience the joy of archaeology—just when you think you know what you are excavating, you find something that makes you realize you have no clue.
The “planks” in the bottom of my units are now revealed to be squared and notched logs with yet more logs, running at right angles, beneath them. Confused? So are we! What are these logs? Are these the remains of the floor of a much older cabin that had been long buried and forgotten before Mr. McKenzie built his cabin there? Are they the remains of the wall that collapsed after the cabin was abandoned?
East wall of house and logs.
For a while, we discuss whether or not the positioning and orientation of the logs and notches are the result of constructing a house using post-on-sill technique, but eventually we decide that their configuration is not right for that construction method.
The old school at Stanley Mission: an example of post-on-sill-construction.
Photograph courtesy of Saskatchewan Archives Board
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Evelyn's unit is straight-forward—she definitely has the floor. |
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Tuesday, July 3:
For weather—see yesterday.
I draw a map of everything in my two units and give up trying to understand what it all means, at least for now. We lay out two units immediately to the east of these, and hope that what we find there will help us understand what is going on at the east side of the house.
Karmen re-opens the unit that contains the southeast corner of the house. We want to see if the floorboards are present in that unit and if the logs in my units extend that far south. Evelyn begins the unit in front of the fireplace.
Ahab McKenzie, who is in charge of post-secondary student funding, brings out two student teachers—Erica McLeod and Sharon McLeod—to work with us for the rest of the summer. They had heard of our project from Lynda Holland, a local researcher and historian, and are very enthusiastic about being part of the excavation. Erica has some photographs of the Old Village that belonged to her grandmother; she says she will bring them some day.
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Today was almost perfect excavating weather—some cloud and some breeze. Several thunderstorms passed to the north and south of us during the afternoon; we got a couple of brief showers that brought out the black flies in full force. |
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Erica is working with Karmen, Sharon with me, to learn the basics of excavating and recording. Erica and Karmen discover that the logs in my units do extend into their unit. They have also found a few pieces of wood at the right level to be the floor boards; however, they are lying helter-skelter, so we're not certain if they are floor boards or just chunks of wood.
Evelyn found a large can lid with a crimped edge just under the sod. She remembers her family buying milk powder in large cardboard containers that had similar metal tops and bottoms.
Thursday, July 5:
Hot, sunny, no breeze.
Today, I give Erica and Sharon their own units. Also, Elizabeth Charles, one of the Elders, joins us today. We show her the mess of wood in front of the east wall, and she is just as confused as we are. She enjoys excavating so much that she plans to join us again on Monday.
Not everything we find is as confusing as the logs in my units. We've found some very interesting artifacts—hardware, children's toys, clothing parts, plates and cutlery, and even some complete bottles!
bottles |
 clothing parts |
 hard ware |
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For further information contact the Curator of Aboriginal History
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