Undergraduate student research from the University of Saskatchewan

On March 7, 2020, eight undergraduate and four graduate students presented at the Anthropology, Physical Anthropology, Linguistics and Archaeology (APALA) conference at the University of Saskatchewan. This is an interdisciplinary, undergraduate focused conference that aims to introduce students from across Canada to presenting their research, exploring new ideas, networking, and learning about academia. The conference is hosted by the University of Saskatchewan’s Archaeology and Anthropology Student’s Association.

The research of five undergraduate students are featured in this issue of Culture. Click on the name to go directly to that student.

Christie Fender : Approaching the Archaeology of Now: Community and Public Based Methods of Approaching Climate Change Threatened Heritage

Natalya Jones : A Critical Medical Approach to the 2014 Ebola Outbreak

Morgan McAllister : The Experience to Make a Difference: Saskatoon’s vulnerable populations use of program and service access for those living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS

Alexandria Smith : Indigenous Ideologies of Gender

Hannah Wieder : The Wolf Willow Site: A Look at Saskatchewan’s History

---

Christie Fender

Approaching the Archaeology of Now: Community and Public Based Methods of Approaching Climate Change Threatened Heritage

As a student focusing on environmental studies, I’m told often to be aware that climate change is happening. We know that it’s affecting archaeological sites. We know that it’s affecting communities, especially minority Indigenous communities in the far north. I’m told that researchers, policy makers, and the general public need to work with it and diminish the impact we have right now. I began to question how more can be done to protect both archaeological sites and the cultural importance they hold to Indigenous people.

Research

I began research by looking at how current research addresses this issue. Does the publication address that climate change affect archaeological sites? Does the publication suggest that climate change is impacting indigenous communities as well? Does the research provide engagement or an approach to either of these issues? Does the publication acknowledge the discrepancies in research of this topic or the challenges in government policy to address archaeological sites at risk and the communities affected by the loss of sites?

Out of 50 pieces of literature or media that were selected, 30 pieces had at least ¼ criteria central to the piece. None of these publications mentioned the Canadian Boreal Forest, which may only be available in grey literature and not as easily accessible. I focused on examples where this research was applicable and addressed these in a 30-page paper.

Community-Based Archaeology, Public Archaeology, and Impacted Sites

Before research, I needed to define what public applications and community-based research were. Community-Based and Public Archaeology are often used interchangeably based on context and meaning to what type of research is being applied.

Public archaeology can be community based, but for the purpose of my research, the definition of public archaeology was largely defined on the aim of creating applications to spread knowledge to the general public, to involve a large audience via social media, and to engage youth interest. The key factor is that not all knowledge gained through community-based efforts is necessarily appropriate to share with the general public.

Community-based archaeology is research that is aimed to convey the needs of the community in question. It may use public archaeology to convey these needs. For example, creating a community centre may employ both community-based and public archaeology, but researching sensitive cultural practices would not employ public archaeology.

This research creates a relationship between the researcher and the community and ultimately gives autonomy for Indigenous communities, to provide a voice for those who may be unheard. At sites at risk, archaeologists are often faced with the issue of “what do we save, what do we let go?” Since archaeological researchers cannot determine cultural importance to Indigenous communities without their input, this relationship is vital to not only saving material but to promoting the value of traditional knowledge.

This also factors in when this material is given back to the communities to involve youth, to teach about traditional practice, and encourage these practices. Training of archaeological research in communities also benefits the archaeologist, especially if sites can be maintained by a community when it may be expensive and challenging to travel. According to Dr. Matthew Betts (2019) for Indigenous peoples, the potential loss is a social, political, and even an economic issue. In many countries, including Canada, Indigenous peoples deploy archaeology to provide evidence of long-term and recurring use of lands and resources. The loss of archaeological sites therefore has the potential to impact their ability to pursue and maintain land and resource rights.

Public archaeology has many applications, from spreading ideas through social media to developing educational programs for local grade-school children about archaeological practices.  Like community-based archaeology, public archaeology has the capacity to build relationships between individuals on a large scale by giving Indigenous communities the ability to share their practices, ideas and values, but also voice the concern that communities are impacted by the loss of archaeological sites. Public archaeology with the involvement of minority or Indigenous communities can produce powerful media forms and provide forms of engagement to learn about sites impacted by climate change.

Implications

Academically, many research projects are already adopting methods of research through engagement. However, in professional archaeology, this isn’t always the case. Archaeological consulting companies are placed in a difficult situation when their only option is to save archaeological sites that need to be quickly excavated, possibly with no time for consultation of Indigenous communities, or face destruction. Even so, perhaps there should be a better effort to involve consultation from indigenous communities in the first few steps of conducting work or involving members of communities in surveying and formulating a plan to conduct archaeological work. CRM can’t determine whether something is culturally relevant on its own when it comes to choosing to save or let go.

When it comes to addressing heritage at risk through technology, not all materials in the archaeological record are appropriate for public based applications even if it is at stake of being lost. Digital is not always the preferred medium for community engagement. When this method is appropriate, there are still limitations to applying these methods. In remote coastal locations, communities don’t necessarily always have access to state-of-the-art technology, internet access for public outreach and engagement. With these limitations to technology, it may also be costly to provide communities with options for individuals who are disabled. Those who design public programming to assist communities who at risk of losing archaeological sites and sites that reflect local heritage, these limitations must be kept in mind.

Whatever the case, whatever the appropriate media, drawing attention to and gaining knowledge on the protection of sites is incredibly beneficial to Indigenous communities at risk of losing significant archaeological sites. While taking limitations and challenges into consideration, approaching the Archaeology of Now can be done mindfully and in a way that’s sensitive to the needs of Indigenous communities.

The climate effects on Indigenous history therefore affects human history.

---

Natalya Jones

A Critical Medical Approach to the 2014 Ebola Outbreak

Previously a disease only known by those in the medical field and those who are directly impacted by it, Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever became a global headline seemingly overnight during the 2014 outbreak. This summary will take a medical anthropological approach to discussing the causes, symptoms, and treatments of Ebola, how it is transmitted, as well as the cultural, political and economic conditions that influenced and aided in the spread of the virus.

Most commonly found in villages on the periphery of the rainforest in West and Central Africa, the countries primarily impacted in 2014 were Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, although a few isolated cases occurred in a variety of countries around the world. Ebola was first identified in 1976 when two simultaneous outbreaks happened in Sudan and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s a zoonotic disease, as in, the virus is originally transmitted from an animal to a human, through the blood or other bodily fluids. This is done most often through the consumption of bush meat in the above-mentioned villages. Ebola spreads by attaching itself with the cells lining in the respiratory tract, eyes and body cavities. It then releases its contents into the cell and clones itself until the new copies of the virus are produced and released into the system. The incubation period for the virus is two to twenty-one days. The symptoms that the patients suffer from are rashes, chills, fever, hemorrhaging, muscle pain and weakness, sore throat, headache, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. This famous disease can have a death rate of up to 90% of the people it infects. The current treatment plans include oxygen masks to keep oxygen levels up, fluids and electrolytes given intravenously, and pain medication to manage the symptoms. There is a vaccine called rVSV-ZEBOV that has been proven to provide a high degree of protection against the virus, after it was tested in a trial in 2015 with 12,000 people in Guinea.

Culturally, there was a multitude of practices that enabled the virus to reach the point it did. At the top of the list is burial practices; it is common in many countries in Africa to worship the body of a loved one by kissing, washing and touching the body. Unfortunately, the Ebola virus secrets infected fluid after death, making it nearly impossible to bury the dead without being infected. The burial practices mixed with the fear of quarantine gave Ebola an extra edge. Loved ones were taken off to quarantine and often were never seen again; this allowed for fear and resistance from the local communities against identifying when one was sick, and following the protocol set in place. No one wants to see their loved ones buried in a mass grave by people wearing hazmat suits, and no one wants the last time they see their loved one to be them being carried away by strangers. A practice that has been well documented with Ebola is the adopting of orphaned family members. When two sisters have children of a similar age, and one passes away from Ebola, it is common for the remaining sister to adopt and breastfeed that child (water is commonly unsafe to consume); therefore, spreading the virus to the aunt, her children and her family. Of course, belief systems, and an astounding lack of cultural competency training, played a fundamental role during the outbreak. The health care professionals who worked the outbreak created a barrier between those who are sick and being able to access help. People turned to traditional healers when first concerned about being ill, spreading the disease to the healers, who then could transmit it further, because of a shared worldview; trust. The lack of trust between the biomedical professionals, and the inability to work within people’s belief systems, furthered the spread and dramatically increased the numbers of deaths.

Politically and economically there were a plethora of underlying issues that exacerbated the spread of the disease. Distrust in the government, and conspiracy theories that fuelled that relationship, made it incredibly difficult to create a relationship between citizens and governmental organization sent to help. The degradation of the environment, in the hunt for resources, resulted in a habitat loss for the animals often consumed in bush meat; pushing them closer to villages, and more accessible to be consumed. Economically, the inability to afford food forces people to eat bush meat, which is the cause of every outbreak. With the poor economic standings of the countries most commonly impacted, there is a lack of education and a lack of medical resources. With illiteracy comes the challenge of spreading information, like the difference between Lassa Fever (a less deadly hemorrhagic virus) and Ebola. The difference is often hard to make out, and can lead to a delay in seeking treatment, allowing the disease to spread before it is even identified. Poor hospital infrastructure and no testing equipment available leads to a devastating inability to identify and treat the virus early on; test results often have to be sent to France, verified and then sent back, before the patient is even aware of what they’re suffering from. “The First Mile” refers to the time between identifying a virus and treating it before it becomes an epidemic; delay in response caused by a lack of education and resources is a major component as to why Ebola is transmitted so ferociously.

In order to curb another serious outbreak, cultural competency must be included in the training of health care professionals, to stop any unnecessary deaths and to help foster a trusting relationship between those impacted and those there to help. Changes to political and economic infrastructures are also mandatory to enable the virus to be identified early on, and to protect the masses from getting infected. Critical medical anthropologists can use their research toolkit to assess reactions from the citizens, and act as a mediator between the government and the people.

---

Morgan McAllister

The Experience to Make a Difference: Saskatoon’s vulnerable populations use of program and service access for those living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS

The importance of offering care to those with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is increasingly vital due to the existing disparities in Saskatchewan. The province’s rates of HIV diagnosis are two times higher than the national average in Canada (Government of Saskatchewan 2017). The Government of Saskatchewan (2017) released a report outlining the province’s rate of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses increased by 4%, with the highest increase occurring in Saskatoon at 58%. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health (2017) highlighted the importance of addressing the HIV epidemic through an HIV Health Care Continuum to improve the diagnosis and engagement in care services (HIV.gov 2017). For people living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS, this summary discusses the significance of participant experiences when accessing the available programs and services for vulnerable populations in Saskatoon.

Background

HIV/AIDS is an infectious disease not bound by borders, which affects people of any age, gender, sex, religion, or cultural background. Once infected an individual’s immune system is adversely impacted, making them more susceptible to other diseases (WHO 2019). Transmission occurs through bodily fluids, such as sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) or blood contact (contaminated needles), as well as from mother to child through pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding (WHO 2019). Though largely incurable and defined as a global public health problem by the World Health Organization (2019), HIV/AIDS is treatable through antiretroviral drugs.

To alleviate the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the available services in Saskatoon emphasized prevention over harm reduction. The city offers numerous ways to help prevent the spread of the infectious disease through needle exchange programs, anonymous HIV testing, reproductive health care, inter-partner violence support, and health centres services through several organizations. For harm reduction, the four organizations which offer services include: Positive Living Program (offered through the Saskatoon Health Authority), Persons Living with AIDS Network of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon HIV/AIDS Reduction (in harm) Program, and AIDS Saskatoon.

Research Methodology

I partnered with Dr. Pamela Downe in the Department of Archaeology & Anthropology at the University of Saskatchewan for this research. This summary is from my honours thesis paper which addressed the question: what programs are accessed by those living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS, and why those programs? Utilizing the ethnographic data from her research with AIDS Saskatoon, I sampled ten anonymous interviews for qualitative data research. The sampled interviews, selected by Dr. Downe, took place between February and May in 2010. The average length of the interviews was twenty-two minutes. I coded and analyzed the interviews with Descriptive and Evaluation coding (Saldana 2016).

At the time of the interviews, the average age of the participants was thirty-six years old. Three men and seven women participated in the interviews. Each participant was a caregiver of children. The majority of the participants identified as indigenous. And concerning annual income, the highest amount was $28,000 a year and the lowest was estimated under $7,000. Participant names have been removed to maintain confidentially.

Discussion

How the programs and services were offered matters to those who accessed them. Participants spoke of positive emotions, relationships, and environment in their narratives. Essentially, when accessing programs and services, participants felt a sense of belonging. Yuval-Davis (2006) defined belonging as an emotional attachment to feel at home and safe. This attachment is dictated by the narratives or stories people tell themselves about their identities. In other words, what people tell themselves about their experiences defined whether or not they felt like they belong.

When recounting their experiences with the accessed services and programs, participants described emotions of friendliness, love, hope, openness, and helpfulness. They recounted relationships as ones of equality, effort, recognition, thoughtfulness, consideration, understanding, trust, reliability, and community. Participants described environments with feelings of home and comfort. In the words of one of the participants: “[AIDS Saskatoon] is like my second home. Honestly. This is an awesome place to be. Awesome place to come” (2010). The positive experiences of participants from the services and programs provided the narrative for them to feel like they belong.

While the concept of belonging was evident in the participant narratives, it is not necessary to feel a sense of belonging. When discussing negative experiences, participants spoke of structural violence, isolation, barriers, inequality, stigmatization, uncertainty, discrimination, sexual harassment, and prejudice. In certain instances, the experience caused participants to stop access to the services. Consider the story of one mother, who was exhausted with a colicky baby so she called Mobile Crisis to transport her and her baby to her mother’s house (2010). While the service dropped off the participant at her mother’s house, they kept her child. Though reunited her with baby shortly afterwards, the participant indicated that the service was not one to be used.

In another narrative, the participant was instructed by her doctor to obtain vaccinations to benefit her health. However, when attempting to follow through with her doctor’s orders at a health centre, she was interrogated, discriminated against, and laughed at. At the time of the interview, the participant had still not completed her vaccinations as she refused to go back. Her experience in accessing the vaccination service was so terrible it stopped her from getting the help she needs. In both participants’ experiences, the outcome resulted in a cease of service access because of their negative experiences. Ultimately, the negative experiences created an opportunity to exclude people from service and program access. This suggests that it matters how the services and programs are delivered.

Conclusion

Saskatoon’s vulnerable populations living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS experienced the opportunity to create a sense of belonging or exclusion when accessing the available programs and services. There is a need for vulnerable populations to access the available programs and services for those affected by HIV/AIDS. However, not enough of a need that participants were willing to suffer through a form of exclusion with negative experiences. The programs and services are more than giving people what they need, it is about treating people with respect and equality. Providing participants with positive experiences matters.

---

Alexandria Smith

Indigenous Ideologies of Gender

My research examined the anthropology of gender distinctive to indigenous peoples in Canada, with consideration to age, gender, culture, sexuality, ability and class. I communicated the importance of numerous perspectives, utilizing an anthropological approach to convey the opportunity to expand knowledge through additional understandings. I outlined my focus to three key components, looking specifically at indigenous ideologies of gender pre-contact, colonial interventions and the post-colonial era.

The impacts of colonial violence and the resulting consequences or ideological changes within indigenous societies was discussed in relation to symbology and ceremonial perspectives, with significance to two-spirit people, indigenous masculinities, and indigenous femininities. The indigenous peoples of Canada—First Nations, Metis, and Inuit—are extremely diverse peoples geographically, linguistically, politically, and culturally. Despite their differences, the most unifying element of indigenous people remains their shared struggle against western ideologies of gender, gender roles, discrimination, and violence evolving from colonization practices. Through indigenous understandings, multiple gender categories have evolved throughout time, pushing the boundaries of the colonial dichotomy of gender. Colonization disrupted the balance of complementary gender roles and shared power within indigenous societies.

With an ancient connection to the land, indigenous people across pre-contact Turtle Island utilized continual acts of reciprocity and respect for all beings. Indigenous ideologies involved a sense of balance with ways of knowing, being and living. Indigenous nations embraced complimentary social responsibilities and roles for all genders. Indigenous concepts of gender pre-contract embraced fluidity and complexity.

Traditional concepts of gender and sexuality were transformed explicitly through colonial violence. Colonization is a gendered project that perpetuates discrimination, with a multitude of consequences on indigenous cultural understandings of gender and gender roles within society. This includes the disempowerment and devaluation of indigenous women within political, economic, social, and cultural realms. Oppressive governmental policies institutionalized gender inequality, leading to the internalization of patriarchal values and the gender binary.

In Canada, the first residential school opened in 1831 and the last closed in 1996, resulting in over a century of colonial violence involving indigenous children, where the western gender dichotomy was forcefully implemented. Governmental and church administrators stole generations of children causing irreparable harm, leading to intergenerational trauma and systematic problems. Changing gender roles and traditional ideologies beginning with indigenous children was critical for the attempted assimilation of indigenous people. Gendered socialization of children at residential schools attempted to replace language, gendered discourse, and traditional ways of knowing and living with western femininity and masculinity. The stratification of gender roles was imposed immediately upon the arrival of indigenous children at the schools.

Although indigenous masculinities have transformed since pre-contact, the history and influence of hockey remains a part of cultural and gendered ideological heritage. My research highlighted various forms of indigenous masculinities by considering historical expressions and knowledge applied to violence, aggression, and gender as related to hockey; where strength, toughness, and physical mastery were displayed vital to gendered expressions. Hockey remained a platform for the socialization of indigenous boys within residential schools, where the rink became a classroom with hockey and discipline.

Moreover, my research examined the imposition of western patriarchy which diminished indigenous women’s power, status, and material circumstances. Traditionally indigenous societies embraced matrilineal clan systems; where status, inheritance, and power largely extended from the mothers within society. Women were the holders of traditions, practices, and customs. They fully embodied sacredness through the ability to create and nourish life. Through colonization, indigenous women are made vulnerable through historical, social, political, and economic factors that create situations and circumstances threatening their ways of life in profound ways.

Furthermore, my research included a discussion on two spirit individuals, who simultaneously resist and contradict western gender dichotomies through their identities and embodiment of indigenous ideologies. Two spirit individuals often carry both ceremonial and ritualistic power, as they embrace a balanced expression of gender constructed within their own identity. Marginalization of indigenous peoples and ideologies does not happen by accident. It is enacted by a system which renders indigenous people vulnerable through racist and sexist governmental policies and legislation.

Further violence is extended by colonizers who consider their entitlement of the land as linked to the entitlement of indigenous women and their bodies. Unfortunately, this mentality can still be seen and experienced today. Traditional studies of genocidal violence often focus on ethnic divisions and fail to consider the impact of gender. Specifically, the targeting of indigenous women and children as a means of achieving genocidal goals. Colonialism required indigenous people to fit within heteronormative western archetypes and understandings of gender. The immense violence against indigenous women has resulted in between four and five thousand missing and murdered women and girls, resulting in further consequences of colonization.

Reconciliation is necessary for the healing of both past and future. The impacts of colonialism in indigenous societies across Canada is largely indescribable. Indigenous conceptions of gender, ways of knowing, relationships, and gendered responsibilities increasingly need to be remembered. Moving forward, the reconnection to cultural identities and traditions are essential for empowering indigenous youth; where strengths inherited by cultural connection and traditional knowledge encompass vital acts of decolonization. Although the legacy of colonization has been internalized by multiple generations, acts of reconciliation, strength, resilience, and reconnection to indigenous ways of knowing will establish new identities formed by breaking colonial chains.

In the face of colonization and attempted assimilation, lasting indigenous knowledges of gendered expressions exist and continue to provide meaning and understandings, while offering ideological values. The importance of our elders who share traditional knowledge, hold ceremonial ties, and teach the importance of kinship and clan systems, continue to have a strong influence on indigenous people across Canada. Persevering through unimaginable hardships, with strength and wisdom, our elders continue to hold onto hope, praying for future generations.

In conclusion, decolonization is vital to reconciliation; with respect of ancestral wisdom and for all gendered identities, in order to grow beyond the western gendered binary social classification system. It is vital to encompass and encourage new gendered identities as well as renewing indigenous traditional understandings of gender, gender roles, and sexuality.

---

Hannah Wieder

The Wolf Willow Site: A Look at Saskatchewan’s History

The Wolf Willow archeological site is located within Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatchewan and has been excavated archeologically for the past 9 years- the word ‘Wanuskewin’ meaning “finding peace within one’s self” in Cree. This park is located next to the South Saskatchewan river, just outside of the city of Saskatoon. Next to the Wolf Willow site lies the Opimihaw Creek which helped to recognize the sites use as a habitation site to hunt and gather food. Within Wanuskewin Heritage Park, 19 Indigenous pre-contact sites have been found including the Wolf Willow site which shows occupation back 4,200 years ago (other sites date back to as far as 6,000 years into the past). Due to the fact that there is not one, but two bison jumps used to hunt bison within the park, the Wolf Willow site shows significant evidence of processing and eating bison as well as other smaller animals and a selection of plants. The park was identified by Professor Ernie Walker from the University of Saskatchewan as having archeological sites and the importance to protect these sites.

Methodology

In order to get the most accurate results, our archeological team from the University of Saskatchewan excavated the Wolf Willow site, first by using a shovel to remove the sod level off of the site. Each archeologist was given a 1 metre by 1 metre unit to excavate over the course of 6 weeks (May 8th to June 21st, 2019). We first measured how level our units were before removing the sod, as well as after to ensure we were taking the natural slope of the ground into consideration when excavating. The sod was checked and screened for any artifacts after removal. After the removal of the sod, each unit was divided into 4 quadrants which were excavated one at a time in 5-centimetre arbitrary intervals, respectfully called the North East, North West, South East and South West quadrants. We dug down in 5 centimetres in order to not miss seeing the cultural level changes or miss mapping in artifacts. Each archeologist’s unit’s coordinates were placed into a GPS tracker so the artifact’s locations could be exactly replicated later. As well as the Borden Number for the Wolf Willow site—FbNp26—each 1 metre unit also was given a unit number.

After the sod was removed, trowels, paintbrushes and dust pans were used to excavate. Small or unrecognizable items found were placed into a ‘fragment bag’ which were specific to each arbitrary level as well as each quadrant. Larger, identifiable artifacts were individually bagged with an artifact number as well as measuring the artifact’s centimetres South from the North side of the unit, centimetres East from the West wall of the unit and depth below surface—the 3 point provenience method. All items found were taken back to the University of Saskatchewan for analysis.

The archeologists dug in arbitrary levels completing a level record and planview map for each level, as well as a daily log for each day excavated. Once we hit sediment colour change in our units, we stopped whatever arbitrary level we were currently digging and started a new level beginning at the sediment change and digging down in 5 centimetres until the next sediment colour change. All sediment that was removed was sifted using a ¼ inch screen. Once I reached 69cm depth below surface I was finding so few artifacts that I shovel shaved the rest of my unit with a full-size shovel, down to 92cm. My four pedestals that held up my datum points I excavated last, in 5cm arbitrary levels with a trowel. The West walls of all units were measured and graphed on 10mm graph paper for their stratigraphy after the excavation.

Discussion

As we know from previous surveying and excavation at the Wolf Willow site, it was a habitation site used back to 4,200 years ago with at least four different occupation periods. From the evidence including bones, teeth and charcoal found throughout the units we can see that the people who camped here were cooking, eating and processing bison. Most bones found were shattered, most likely due to being smashed for their bone marrow. Beaver, Pronghorn and Canid remains were also found throughout our excavation units. Fire cracked rocks that were found prove that fire was being used to boil and cook. Lithic evidence including shatter, debitage, cores, flakes and complete projectile points show the stone tools being used the hunt these animals. Limited pottery sherds were also uncovered, showing the crude pottery being made and used to store food at these times.

Post-contact layers uncovered metal projectile points, glass bottles and bullet casings. It is likely that people returned to this site year after year due to the shelter the valley walls provide, as well as the Opimihaw Creek to provide water and wildlife.  The two bison jumps located within the park would have been a reason to return every year for the ease of hunting many bison at one time. The clay and gravel layers that were found most likely are from a flood that washed from the Opimihaw Creek. It is possible that people were not using the habitation site in the area we excavated from between approximately 3-4000 years ago due to the lack of artifacts in cultural level 4 and 5. The most culturally rich layer with large artifacts was cultural level 2a. I found a total of 35 artifacts that were given catalog numbers; this does not include anything found in the fragment bags. Hopefully more will be uncovered in the coming years of excavation that is planned for the Wolf Willow Site.