OSOYOOS, BC — For visitors and residents in the south Okanagan, it’s a popular provincial park. But for the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB), it’s now an important cultural heritage site.
Archaeologists are at Haynes Point digging deep, after aboriginal artifacts and ancestral remains were uncovered in the park.
The human bones were discovered in late April and tests found the remains to be more than 1,200 years old.
“There are a lot of ancestral remains that are less than a 1,000 years old in this area,” says archaeologist Brenda Gould. “But I believe these might be the oldest ones that have been radio carbon dated.”
OIB Chief Clarence Louie believes the remains belonged to an influential person of the first nations community because of the chosen burial site.
“My guess is that person was of some importance — it could’ve been a high-ranking chief. It’s not normal for our people to bury our people in a crossing area,” says Chief Louie.
The significance of the discovery has closed the park indefinitely.
The archaeologists say most people have been cooperative, while others are clearly frustrated.
“We just ask them to let us get our job done because we have a very tight deadline. We don’t have a lot of time to deal with aggressive people — there’s been a lot of upset people,” explains Gould.
Chief Louie says he anticipated the backlash and can’t say if the park will re-open.
The Ministry of Environment says Haynes Point’s future depends on the archaeologists’ assessment.
A report with recommendations will be complete in early 2015.
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