May 5, 2000 For Immediate Release

Starting May 8, the University of Northern British Columbia will be offering a unique field school north of Williams Lake that will teach archaeological methods to UNBC students and provide local First Nations students with the knowledge to manage their own archaeological sites.

The opening ceremony for the course will be at 10:30am on Monday, May 8 at the Xats'ull Heritage Village (Meet at Soda Creek Education Centre/Emporium)

A dozen students are registered in the course, which is UNBC's first archaeological field school. The program will run for 11 weeks, and include classroom instruction and general field techniques as well as an actual excavation of a pit house site at the Xats'ull Heritage Village near Soda Creek.

The course was first proposed by the Cariboo Tribal Council Treaty Society as an initiative that would build capacity within the community to manage their own archaeological and heritage issues. "Providing local First Nations and UNBC students with the tools to understand archaeology is a primary objective of this course," says Richard Lazenby, UNBC's Program Chair of Anthropology. "It's appropriate, therefore, that one of the instructors for this course is a UNBC graduate who is also a member of the Soda Creek Band." Judith Gilbert graduated from UNBC in 1999 with a degree in History.

The first few weeks of the course will be comprised of classroom instruction, guest lectures, and learning field techniques. The actual excavation at Xats'ull will occur over the last three weeks. "Nobody really knows what that site contains or how old it is. This class will be providing some information on how interior First Nations lived hundreds of years ago," says Dr Lazenby.

The course is being financially supported by the Cariboo Chilcotin Aboriginal Training and Education Centre, which has provided some operating funds for food, camp equipment, vehicle rentals, etc. Williams Lake forest companies and the BC Heritage Trust have also provided financial support for some facility requirements.