Client: Tla’amin Nation
Tla’amin Nation recently led a successful salmon restoration project in the Theodosia River in Desolation Sound. Aquilla Archaeology Ltd. was asked to complete an archaeological survey and study the Tla’amin Lands here to ensure that restoration efforts would not damage any heritage sites.
The remains of a large wood fish trap complex indicate the significance of the salmon populations in the past as these traps were used to catch fish on their way to the river to spawn. In the late 1800s when Indian Reserve Commissioners were drafting boundaries of Indian Reserves at toqʷanan, they sketched the location of traditional Tla’amin houses and named them according to what was likely the highest-ranking man in the family.
We were able to relocate these houses and found abundant archaeological evidence in these locations effectively linking the ancient archaeological record to these families who may have surviving descendants today.
