archeology

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The Iroquois of Hochelaga

Hail! You awesome human. We meet and we are joyous. It is with gladness that we greet the newcomers to our great land. Come, eat, fill your bellies from our larder, you will not starve among us. We feed you, we accept you, friend, speak with us. We will teach you and help you, friend, come to our village, for conversation and peace among us.

You, oh lofty European, with your fine boat, your interesting garment, your unusual style. How intriguing that you should come here to meet us. Tell us about yourselves, your passage, your ways, your reason for being here.

And so, the dialogue occurs. A conversation on the island of Montreal, between the explore Jacques Cartier and the Iroquois of Hochelaga.

The kindness of the  people, the curiosity, goodwill, companionship and generosity all marked in the captains log.  A fine people of bravery and fellowship, standing at the gateway to the interior of Canada.  A brave new land.  A people of skills and craftsmanship who built a fortress of wood with a village of longhouses inside it.  A people who farmed the land, planted crops, fished in the waters of the St. Lawrence River.  A people with some invention, with tools and self sufficiency, that were able to rely on their wits and toil for their survival.

https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/french-canada/the-mystery-village

These are the  people who are lost to us, only six years had passed and they are gone.  Where did you vanish to, you kind and courageous people?  Where did you go, when we needed your stories?  Your kinship is important to us, yet you vanish into history.  A people of fame, marked in the year 1535 and gone 6 years later in 1541.  Man the builder.  A fortress of wood, with longhouses inside it.  A village to protect the 1500 occupants.  The historical significance of this site is immense, since the builder has tools and a method of construction which was unique to them.  They also had social order which helped them to live congenially in such a confined space.  But where did you go,  oh fine human?  A human of intellect and high aptitudes, of compassion and caring, vanishing into the unknown in such a few short years.  

The mystery of Hochelaga still haunts us, as we excavate Montreal.  Although the people vanished, the message survived.  Come, friend, speak with us.  The exploration of Canada and later the fur trade.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

February 1, 2020

Is It a Calendar?
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Is It a Calendar?

Good morning, all of you brilliant ones

Today is one of our solstice days.  A day of long summers light and warm summer sunshine.  Today, we discover our ancient past and peek into the lives of an ancient people.

Hail bravehearts.  Come to Canada!

Come to a land of intrigue and mystery.  A land of ancient people living in conjunction with ancient peoples all over the world.  Come to a land of discovery, where the early aboriginals rival the intellect of peoples world wide.  Come to Canada where the ancient world is opening it’s doors and showing itself as a marvel of ancient wonder.

Some call it a medicine wheel, some call it glaciation, but another scientist has researched the site and credits it as a  huge sun temple.

5000 years ago on the plains of southern Alberta, the ancient Oxbow people gathered their strength and might and formed a huge circle of stones, 26 square kilometers wide, with features that represent the sun, the crescent moon and the morning star. This vast calendar was placed by them, as a means to view the changing seasons and to watch the moon phases.   These ancient people, built their vast temple from stones with a similarity to, but 700 years older than the Stonehenge site in England.

http://canadastonehenge.com/2009/01/sun-temple-discovery-in-alberta-informs-stonehenge-research/Canada’s Stonehenge in Alberta

The still evolving discovery of this place is being researched, with pictures catalogued to prove the possibility of a calendar, which marked the changing season and the changes in the moon phases, as light is cast upon the Earth.  Ancient man, trying to tell the time and to prove the date, the length of a year, the changes in light in each season for the hours in a day, the number of days in a year, so that they can predict the seasons which is so important to their survival.

This particular area of Alberta is known for ancient and prehistoric life, being in the vicinity of the dinosaur dig as well.

written by Dr, Louise Hayes

June 22, 2015

The First day of Summer
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The First day of Summer

Happy Solstice!

Hail bravehearts, to the dawning of this new day.   A day of light and summer.  A day of celebration.  A day of wonder and awe.  Today the sun shines most brightly on the great planet and casts it’s warm rays of heat and light upon us. Today is the longest day.

Here, in our part of the world, we will have daylight till after 11 pm and the sun will rise brightly  early in the morning.  It is a day of joy and celebration as the great Earth spins its way into another summer.

Summer!  The season of holidays, heat, gardens, barbeques and  the great outdoors.  This is the season where we also shed our warm winter attire and bask in the glorious sunshine.  A season for sunscreen and insect repellent, beaches and bathing suites. The time of year of the carefree summer days, the long and relaxing days of summer life and summer play.  The warm sunshine calls us  from our homes and beckons us to leave our comfortable nests and step into the world of the great outdoors.

Summer!  The blessings of the sun as it shines upon us and fills our world with green and color.  Warm.  It is now the time of warm!

The feeling of your body as it wakes to a dawn of bright light.  Come!  calls the sunshine.  Rise and shine with me.  Come outside and play in the warm, dazzling light and feel the splendor of this great new day.  Come, feel the joy of summer, the blooming of the Earth, the warmth of the lakes and the cool of the fresh waters.  Come outside to feel the joy of summer, with it’s heat and fragrance and the freshness of the rain.  Smell the newly cut grass and the warm summer breezes, feel the warm wind in your face and the cool splashes of rain water.  The planet has changed itself again today, and the lazy air of restful summer is upon us.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-33211353  summer solstice at Stonehenge

From the time of ancient man, the dawn of summer has been celebrated on a day in June, when the day is the longest.  A day when all of the crops are planted and the time is marked by the long length of daylight.  A day to celebrate the life that the earth gives and the superb placement of this celestial planet as it passes near to the sun in it’s yearly orbit around our life giving  shining star.

The reason for stonehenge is still a mystery,  but the placements of the stones indicate the celebration of summer as the sun rises and it’s light shines in a specific path. The huge rocks placed in a sort of circle where people can gather  to watch the rising sun and marvel at the brilliant idea of this festive day.  To be a witness to the first light shone upon the Earth on this glorious day of sunshine and daylight.

Lucky for us to be in such a place, in such a time, to live in such a place as this.  A world full of wonder and history.  A world full of awe and excitement.  A world where mysterious ancient man, rose to celebrate the first rays of dawn on the longest day of the year.  Lucky for us, that today is a new day,  a new season.  Welcome to summer!

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 21, 2015

Boats and Things
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Boats and Things

Hail Bravehearts

To the ingenuity of early man. Praises to the brilliance. To the inventor, the genius who can’t stop learning. Since the time before humans, boats have been built. With skill and ingenuity, to cross the high seas, in search of discovery, new worlds, new beginnings, new adventure, new life, new home, a new land.
Brave homo erectus, 800,000 years ago, lashed together reeds to sail the high seas. An intelligent forerunner of the human, so daring and interested, to find out what lies beyond the comfortable domain of his estate. To hand to us the skills and invention of ocean going craft.
A daring adventure on quiet waters, poling a raft around the rivers. Caution and careful, trial and error, not to tip or fall into the water. The genius at work, preparing for a great day. A day on the water, maneuvering carefully, learning skills without a teacher. Teach yourselves, to build and propel, to drive the craft and to be in control. Time and again, the master at work, reading the water, for eddies and rapids and rocky outcrops, sand bars and current, undertoe and dangerous deadfall. What catches the craft and spins it out of control? Into the deep water, where the pole cannot touch bottom. Dangerous, yet thrilling! The raft moves on, controlled by the current, until, luckily it breaches on the rocky bottom. Victory! Another lesson learned, the hard way, but this is the only teacher they had. A longer pole, a larger raft, another attempt. Try again, to build and control, to master the water and to ride the seas.
The destiny will be to conquer the ocean and reach the land mass that lies beyond.

http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~vaucher/History/Prehistoric_Craft/ sail the high seas.

A simple vessel, but not from a simple mind. The migration of the species to lands beyond is accomplished by the brave and the daring, the curious and the willing. Who would like to ride in the boat of simple reads, lashed together, and to take their chances on the high seas? The migration to the new worlds has begun and the pursuit of adventure and discovery is upon us. 800,000 years ago, the spirit of discovery is compelling. To new worlds, to seek new land, to discover more and more. Ancient as they are, the drive for discovery and adventure is in them. A new frontier to be explored. A quest which ignites the flame of power and curiosity. What lies beyond our own safe home? What is out there?
Brave homo erectus, who sails the oceans, the mighty waters couldn’t stop them. Only the discovery, the opportunity, the chance to answer the still, so often asked question. What lies beyond?

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
October 30, 2014

Turquoise and Jewels

Good morning brave hearts.

The adventure of opening the great wild to tourism was a profound feat of national significance.  What lay at the heart of the lofty mountains was a prize of dollars and sense.  The magnificent wild opened an opportunity for the Canadians to explore the great land, with it’s unending beauty and prizes of health and fitness benefitting the soul, the body and the mind.  Unrivalled magnificence of stellar views, of grand landscapes with carpets of flowers, magnificent wild beasts, forest and birds and mile upon mile upon mile of exploration, adventure and discovery.  Another superb mountain pass, a glimpse into the unending mountain chain, life and travel, peace and rejuvenation.  The heart melts at the great beauty of the awesome great Earth, and the soul sings in praises of the almighty planet.
Joy!  Joy in the discovery of yet another crystal clear lake, the colour of emeralds and turquoise.  Jewels of the earth splashed onto the landscape with colour so rare and brilliant.  Waterfalls and great glaciers, rugged, uncompromising land.  The brave came forward for the thrill and excitement of discovery, to challenge their skills in the fabulous pursuit of mountain adventure.  To climb the highest peak, to paddle the turbulent waters, to conquer the rapids and to proclaim their triumphant success. The challenge was so exciting and the adventure was so grand, that a call was heard at the  highest office of the land.  “More!”  cries the spirit, as it soars with the eagles at the top of the mountain.  A unnamed peak, so cleverly climbed and an expedition that can see for miles.  “There’s more!  We want more!”
The persistent horseman had travelled into the frontier, exploring and cutting trails for business and curiosity.  Setting up camps  and marking routes,  their travels becoming documented feats of early exploration,  where  no man had gone before.  They were the first to travel into the heart of the mountains and with their discovery came reports of more and more and more.  Land for preservation, land for protection, land for tourism and business and wealth.  Properly protected, the land becomes a haven of international acclaim.  Mountain climbers and thrill seekers, artists and adventurers all swarm to the mountains to lay claim to their rights. To be the first to capture that title, to paint that view, to write that log and to name that peak.  The race was on!  To be the first, and with that title, to capture their place in the history of the nation.  To be the praises of that song, to be the heroes of the day, to be the champion of that title.  To carry gold in their pockets and bragging rights, forever!
The pastime of a pursuit of a new national dream, captured their imaginations, their hearts, their minds and their destiny. In 1886, awesome Yoho with it’s fossil find, and fabulous Glacier National Parks, in British Columbia were formed. In 1887 the boundaries of Banff National Park were expanded.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/yoho/index.aspx Yoho National Park, British Columbia

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/glacier/index.aspx Glacier National Park, British Columbia

With the formation of these two new national parks, Canada was now pursuing a legacy of national wealth in the preservation of the great outdoors.  A conscience developing in the Canadian people, to marvel at the magnificence of the great land of Canada, to be the proud owners of special, protected places.  A step into the lives of the early explorers is to witness a life of thriving good health and fitness.  The dauntless being who returned victorious from that triumphant mountain expedition, reaches to us from the thriving brilliance of yesteryear.  The earth saves us, oh human, and our history still claims us.  The system of national parks is for environmental protection and for the health and vitality of the people.  The great land calls us and from our beginnings we search and protect those significant areas that demand preservation.
For us, in Canada, the great wild has always been the fortune of our existence. Fortunate us, to have the great land and it’s outstanding wild places and wild creatures, to call us to health, fortitude, adventure and freedom.  Yes, said the awesome great powers of the day.  We will give you these grand landscapes of freedom, forever, for you to enjoy, oh Canadians.  In health, in wellness, in joy.  The new national dream was secured.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
May 27, 2014

Ah! The Spa.
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Ah! The Spa.

Hail, you awesome human!

In 1883, wealth and riches captured their imagination. The luxury of the land, for them, the discovery, the awesome, awe-inspiring find. No more harsh work, no more scheduled hours, no more dictators and slave drivers. No more sunrise risings and sun set endings. The long and tiresome day has come to an end, and wealth now lies before their eyes. The glittering prize of dollars, cast in the heated pool of water, was immense wealth to these lucky, entrepreneurs. The back breaking toil of constant work, ends with this discovery.
Shall it be a hotel, a resort, a day spa? The hot pools of the Banff hot springs was a discovery like no other. Close at hand, and surrounded in beauty, the hot pools rested in the mountains, somewhat close to Calgary. A perfect place for tourists and yes, they would come. All the way out to the mountains of Alberta, to soak in the mineral rich waters of the hot springs. Health and wellness would follow as the mineral content of the pools was investigated for healing and curative powers. A superb discovery, a marvelous, accidental find. To explore, on a day trip and discover the very point of tourist marketing in that part of the mountains. A claim was laid, a plan discussed, the excitement grew and grew. Rich! They were rich! It’s all mine, they exhalted! Then, it was disputed.
Others came forward to lay claim to the riches and the joy and merry making became a dispute. The squabble was so loud it reached the heights of legislative power in the country. Hot springs in the mountains! Gold!
Curiously, the powers that be, stepped in to investigate the claim. Yes, it was real. The claim was laid, the co-ordinates were correct and the find was legal. Still, there was a dispute, so how to resolve it so that everyone would win.
For all Canadians, you say. Maybe more, for all of the world to enjoy. That part is obvious, but how to win the claim. They wouldn’t part with it.
To the legislator it went, and into the hands of the Canadian people fell the rights to the first hot springs discovered in the Canadian Rockies. For all of us to enjoy. Of course there would be an admission charge, but no one would be able to claim exclusive rights. The rights to this land, belong to the people of Canada, and hence, the first national park in Canada was formed in Banff, Alberta, in 1885.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ab/caveandbasin/index.aspx cave and basin hot springs, Banff National Park.

Banff National Park is a milestone in Canadian history. Superbly beautiful, now a UNESCO site, this mountain national park is one of four mountain national parks in Canada. Glorious Banff, with it’s superb climbing, mountain huts, spectacular views, tourist destinations, hiking, mountain biking, rivers, boating and white water rafting. This gem marked the beginning of wilderness preservation, environmental conservation, wildlife protection , and it is still, a pure tourist delight. A fine example of the awesome splendor of the vast and wonderful nation of Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDan4o8T04s Banff National Park, The Canadian Rockies, Tracker Productions.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
May 16, 2014

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Ancestory

Good morning Brave hearts!

Rise and shine! The world awaits you on this glorious day of fun filled adventure and grand survival. Hail to you, almighty human, for the far reaches of your destiny and for the clever intellect that saves you there.
Here, in the far north, resides the inventor. Clever human of specialized skills who lives in remote, but inspiring circumstances in the awesome and wondrous far north.
The inventor, who’s skills have saved them from the cold, from starvation and from isolation.
Scrape off your vehicles, run the engine, pull out the snow blower, shovel, shovel, shovel. The life in winter has it’s moments of back breaking hard work, icy sidewalks and treacherous driving. Pull out the sand, the salt, the ice melters. Let the plows pass to clean the streets. The snowy, blowy, frosty winter is upon us.
Hail bravehearts, to the brilliant lives of our forerunners. To building igloos, to building kayaks, to catching fish and to harnessing dogs. The life of the land was a hard one and the brilliant inventor survived by necessity, cunning and ingenuity.
The howling dogs greet their masters in the snowy morning. Dogs for hunting with and for pulling sleighs. Dogs that make their lives easier by transportation and pulling cargo. Dogs, harnessed to sleighs for sport, hunting, travelling and carrying. The dogs are a savior to the aboriginals of the far north. They carry far more than anyone could ever carry on a pack and travel more quickly and more efficiently. Dogs and man, an age old friendship, for dogs willingly accept habitation amongst humans and comply with training.
The dog sled was invented in approximately 800 BC by the Thule peoples of the Canadian high Arctic. Ancestors of the Inuit, the Thule people carved a niche in the far north, migrating hundreds of miles to their destination across the Canadian arctic. They traveled all the way across the continent of North America from Alaska, to new worlds on the other side, as far as Labrador. In the cold, snowy north, where game is plentiful, snowfall high and temperatures plunging to cold minus’s, these adaptive peoples resided.
The allure of the land held them captive and they lived on the abundant, prosperity of the gifts of the earth.
Clever aptitudes, building whale bone housing, covered with animal skins, or sod houses, or igloos. The inventor kept the cold at bay with warm housing made from the materials at hand.
Hail to you, oh brave hearts of the far north, for inventions that saved you, for perseverance and cleverness,for your great adaptability to a harsh and unforgiving climate in a land of awesome wonder and beauty. The ancient peoples of our nation resided in some of the harshest and most extreme climates in the world. Not mearly to survive, but to live and to thrive in dangerous and remote places.

http://www.glenbow.org/thule/?lang=en&p=outside&t=enhanced&s=3-1&mi=1

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 31,2014

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Above the Arctic Circle

Praises mankind
To your thousands of years of history in the making. To the vast land of the high Arctic, where a small group of people came to inhabit this great land. Approximately 50,000 square miles of remote Arctic wilderness, where the shallow lakes of yesteryear remain an ecological and human delight of today. The proven history of pre history mankind.
Dance, you dazzling northern lights. Fill the skies with the beauty of the night. Dance and play with your dazzling colours, your mesmerizing movements of light and your own sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCqX_aIHQ0I Northern lights and tranquility music.

The vast night sky, with its thousands of twinkling stars, stretches the imagination. What lies beyond this great planet Earth? Into the vastness of the galaxy, our minds roam for answers. Are we alone?
Pre history man, with his small colony in the far north was alone. A group of people who found that perfect place. A land of richness and abundance, of beauty and tranquility. The peace of the great land welcomed them, saved them and they dwelled in relative prosperity.
Hear us, sighs the great planet, as another contract is signed for environmental protection. An oasis, almighty human. Since the dawn of time, this land has been intact, full of the precious life forms and the majestic land of ancient Earth.
The evolutionary path is a trail of archeological treasure. It tells a story of early Canada, of a migration of aboriginal peoples who followed their prey as it moved across the globe. Animals of the great plains of Africa, hyenas, camels and sloth, plus wooley mammoth, tigers, giant beavers and reindeer.
In their own migratory path, the people have come from Africa. So did the wildlife, to the great plains of the far north.
The Earth, the ever changing planet.
Stay, almighty human, in the land of the far north. The animals die out as the planet changes and cools. Other animals arrived to take their place. As the glaciers recede and the rest of Canada warms, the high Arctic cools.
But the land is a massive oasis of life and living, of sport and hunting of play and daring. The adventure of your lives!
For the early human had an aptitude for survival. He was the fittest, he was the strongest and he was the bravest.

Click to access FN_Com_Profile_VGFN_LH_ed.pdf

Come, you bravehearts, come to the land of prehistory mankind. Come into the land of the mighty Yukon territory and explore with us the great secrets of our ancestry.
Hail, you almighty human, for the adventure of your lives.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 8, 2013

Old Crow Flats
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Old Crow Flats

Good morning Bravehearts!

A brilliant new day, for brilliant new minds.
Clever bravehearts, the adventure continues, deep into the depths of prehistory man. Deep into the brilliant life of life above the tundra, life in the great Arctic, above the Arctic circle.
A vast and exquisite land of migrating wildlife and of the peoples who have inhabited this place for thousands of years.
The unspoilt far north. A rugged and dangerous land filled with snowcaps and frigid waters, rough tundra and alpine flora. The mighty animal life of the far north, polar bear, caribou, walrus, whale and the people who still live in this remote and harsh part of the world.
Our sense of reality assumes the worst. Freezing cold, barren landscape, months of endless darkness, but thousands of years ago, the earth was a much different place. Here, up above the Arctic Circle was a land of warmer climate. As the rest of Canada lay covered under a sheet of glacial ice and snow, the high Arctic was home to many species of wildlife. Way up in the high Arctic, a vast preservation of lakes, ponds, marshes and land is now occupied by throngs of migrating birds, to the point that it is protected as a bird refuge. Here is the home of prehistory man as he enters the continent of North America and settles in Canada. A protected land that is now a vast land settlement area which includes government land, Vuntut National Park and the ancestral lands of the Vuntut Gwitchen people.

Click to access ice_age_old_crow.pdf

How long ago, for the great human, the almighty man, who conquers all. The carbon dating of the tools indicates thousands of years ago. The migration of people into continental America is earlier than what was once believed. An area called Old Crow flats and the fossil finds in the Blue Fish caves tell a story of this ancient world.

http://www.taiga.net/wetlands/oldcrow/oc_gen.html

The pre history shows a collection of unusual animals. Fossils galore, but not of this world, not of this continent. Hyenas. A scavenger who follows predators and injured animals, waiting for cast offs, or an easy kill. Camels, sloth. A far different world, in the far north. A land of lush vegetation, abundance of wildlife, safe habitation for dwellings, an easier life than now.

http://www.civilization.ca/research-and-collections/research/resources-for-scholars/essays-1/archaeology-1/jacques-cinq-mars/significance-of-the-bluefish-caves-in-beringian-prehistory3/

The brilliant bravehearts of that world inhabited a beautiful landscape of plenty. The people stayed.
The Old Crow flats and Blue Fish Caves are areas of significant archeological treasure and environmental protection. This protected area boasts some of the worlds most significant archeological findings. Discoveries that prove pre history man was a man of skills and that the planet is an ever changing world. The migration of man, at the dawn of our nations history is revealed in the unparalleled beauty of the majestic far north. In a collection of lakes, high in the mountains, where the summer days are continual daylight and the temperature is a warm 15C.
High above the Arctic Circle where no one dreams to believe, that here is the dawning of Canada. Here is the brave new world of ancient man.
Daring human, we hear your words. Come to the far north. Come to the adventure of your lives.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 5,2013

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The Dawn of Time

Good morning Bravehearts.
In the beginning, the world was lush with vegetation and wildlife. In the beginning, the far north was the place to be. In the beginning, above the Arctic Circle, was a paradise of habitat for plant and animal and human. In the beginning, before the last glaciers receded, while Canada was under a layer of ice and snow, the far north was home to many residents. It still is.
Come to the beginning, to Vuntut National Park, Yukon Territory, to the dawn of mankind in the Canada.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/yt/vuntut/index.aspx

Here, in this vast and remote wilderness lies the key to prehistory mankind. An unusual ecosystem, high up in the Arctic, with relatively warm climate, berries, birds, animals, fish. Food in abundance and weather temperate enough for survival. Low annual snowfall lightly covers the winter ground, sub zero temperatures to -35C. An oasis of lakes, marsh, pond, vegetation. This large protected area is where the story begins. Here in the mighty north.
Praises mankind, to your thousands of years of human habitation in the far north. Your story will be told.

http://www.taiga.net/wetlands/oldcrow/oc_gen.html

The peoples are the Vuntut Gwitchen, the settlers and survivors of a world of constant change. They came to a land of plenty and stayed for the life that the land provides. A life of hunting and gathering, trapping, boating. A life of relative ease with food in abundance. Sports, fishing. The endless beauty of the Earth, the endless beauty of the sky.
With so much provided there’s time to think and time to play, time to imagine and time to work. Time to investigate and explore. Time to build a nation, a culture, a language, dwellings a home. With glaciers receding there’s an opportunity to travel south, but they stayed. Stay in your own vast oasis of relative warmth and adventure. Of food and prosperity.
The great Earth provided an immense land of abundance and opportunity. The land of and the lands surrounding Vuntut National Park.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 3, 2013