Our Work

This page summarizes some of our past and current projects created in collaboration between Tsattine people and Lakehead University's Department of Anthropology. This includes a list of publications, presentations, and Masters Student's thesis papers.

Latest Project

Supporting Traditional Tsattine Knowledge of a Buffalo Hunting Landscape Through Exploratory Mapping: Kleskun Hills, Alberta

Thesis Written By: Lauryn Eady-Sitar

Introduction:

My thesis is centered around an important sacred landscape in Beaver territory, Kleskun Hills. An oral history shared by Tsattine elder Philip Joachim to Victoria Wanihadie states that Kleskun Hills was once used as a buffalo jump (Wanihadie, 2024). Since the exact location(s) and method(s) of the buffalo kill(s) are presently unknown, I use this oral knowledge as a foundation for understanding the Kleskun Hills landscape, and consider what complementary insights archaeological mapping approaches and ethnohistorical descriptions might add. To do so, I employ remote-sensing (non-destructive) mapping techniques to investigate topographic patterns in the Kleskun landscape that are consistent with characteristics at known buffalo hunting sites from across North America.

Figure 1. Photo from Beaver territory during field visits in June 2024 with Victoria (left) and Lauryn (right) on the rolling prairie grasslands beneath Kleskun Hills.

My work is motivated by Beaver knowledge keeper Victoria Wanihadie’s desire to learn more about how buffalo were hunted by her Tsattine ancestors. Due to the disproportionate effects of colonialism and the influx of outside communities into their traditional lands, Tsattine memories and histories of buffalo hunting have been fragmented and erased (Burley et al., 1996; Wanihadie, 2024). Despite this, some oral histories and ethnographic accounts provide insight as to the various ways that Beaver people hunted buffalo (see ‘Bison’ page for review) (Goddard, 1916; Ridington & Ridington, 2013). Overall, the work produced in my thesis hopefully helps to improve knowledge and bring attention to past practices of Tsattine communal buffalo hunting in the Peace Region, guided and inspired by the oral history shared by Elder Philip. By doing so, I work towards countering the misconception among some academics, archaeologists, and the general public that communal buffalo hunting could not have occurred this far North in Alberta. As a settler-scholar with much of my training in Western academic practices, I acknowledge that my insights into this complex landscape are limited. Nonetheless, I pursued this project with the intention of learning from Indigenous people, from Indigenous land, and outside the traditional environment of a graduate student.

Learning from the Land at Kleskun:

In June 2024, I visited Kleskun Hills Provincial Park and a small portion of Beaver territory in the Peace Region alongside Victoria Wanihadie and Dr. Jessica Metcalfe. The focus of our visit was to meet with Tsattine individuals, visit culturally important locations, learn from the land and listen to the lived realities of Tsattine people. The majority of our agenda was determined and led by Victoria. Our visit to Kleskun shaped and shifted the direction of my thesis, influenced by land-based observations, conversations, and embodied experiences on the land. In the few hours that I visited Kleskun, several extreme shifts in weather occurred and changed dramatically as we neared important areas. We had many discussions while walking and stopping along the Kleskun landscape; we discussed Kleskun Hills Park’s current lack of Indigenous representation at the time, the absence of burial site protection, and the limited archaeological recognition of communal buffalo hunting technologies in Beaver territory (Wanihadie, 2024). All of these concerns, together with the oral history shared by Elder Philip influenced me to focus my research on Kleskun Hills.

A Geographical Information System (or GIS) was used to remotely explore the larger Kleskun Hills landscape. Using LiDAR data, surface elevations and topographic patterns can be identified. For comparative purposes, I compiled ethnohistoric accounts and descriptions of communal buffalo hunting landscape components to determine which similar features might be present at Kleskun and favourable for communal kills. Two key aspects of a communal drive is a fairly direct path connecting the grazing basin to the trap (e.g., cliff, pound, arroyo), as well as the inability of the bison to see the trap until it is too late to divert paths (Byerly et al., 2005). I used two geospatial techniques, least-cost-path (which determines the path of least resistance between two points based on minimal slope changes) and viewshed analysis (which determines the visible/non-visible portions of a landscape from a specified observer point) to explore how successful a proposed path may be for a buffalo to be moved from the grazing basin to the proposed slope jump with a fairly direct path and minimal visibility of the trap (Byerly et al., 2005; Carlson, 2011; Chan, 2024; Grund et al., 2016). I determined there were possibly 3 natural ‘grazing basins’ in the vicinity of Kleskun Hills that could have been utilized to gather buffalo herds (Figure 2, dashed white circles). Features for grazing basins have generally been described in ethnohistoric and archaeological literature as large, flat, open areas of land where buffalo would naturally congregate, from which hunters could lure herds towards a pre-determined trap area (Brink, 2008; Verbicky-Todd, 1984). I identified 5 potential trap locations for buffalo hunting: 2 slopes (jumps), 1 channel (arroyo), and 2 natural traps (ambushes using a natural ridge or marsh) (Figure 2). These proposed trap areas were determined based on aspects of ethnohistoric and archaeological descriptions of slope/channel heights, proximity to large flat grazing basins, and direction of prevailing winds (for hunters to avoid being detected by scent) (Brink, 2008; Byerly et al., 2005; Larsen, 2013; Polk, 1979).

Mapping Methods and Identifying Potential Areas for Buffalo Kills:

Figure 2. Kleskun Hills landscape Digital Terrain Model (1x1m) and hillshade map (elevation difference of 100m between highest and lowest points, indicated by colours red (highest) to green (lowest)) (Natural Resource Canada, 2025; County of Grande Prairie, 2014). Three potential gathering basins (GB1, GB2, & GB3) are identified as dashed white circles. Potential trap areas (black rectangles) include: JA-1 (Jump-area 1), JA-2 (Jump-area 2), C1 (Channel 1), R1 (Ridge 1), and M1 (Marsh 1). The former southern border of Kleskun Lake is depicted. A wind rose (fromTeepee Creek AGCM station, ~13km NE from Kleskun Hills) demonstrates the predominant wind directions in the area (i.e., winds blow from SW to NE) (Alberta Climate Information Service).

One possible area for a jump (identified as JA-1, Figure 2) is located in the uplands west of the Park's badland hills. The north and east-facing slopes (approximately 10-15m tall) are situated downwind from a large open potential grazing basin, which would successfully mask any scent from the hunters waiting at the trap/luring the bison (GB1, Figure 2). An illustration of proposed bison movement between GB1 and JA-1 can be seen in the video animation below: a theoretical perspective of a buffalo is created moving from the proposed grazing basin to the proposed jump area. A least-cost path (black line) was generated to demonstrate that a fairly direct path could be taken with a gentle somewhat downhill slope (to help encourage a herd towards the trap). Multiple viewsheds were generated to explore what parts of the landscape are visible (orange areas) to a theoretical buffalo as it traversed the path of least resistance. This model demonstrates that based on present landscape features, this could be a successful jump area; the actual cliff/descent remains invisible to the bison until

Tsattine oral history identified Kleskun Hills as a buffalo jump location. My geospatial results support the potential use of the Kleskun landscape for buffalo drives into various types of traps. By deconstructing previous archaeological and ethnohistorical understandings of communal hunting, and bringing together Indigenous oral histories and geospatial interpretations of Kleskun Hills, it is my hope that this work leads to greater recognition of continued Tsattine presence in the Peace Region of Alberta. Hopefully my thesis encourages archaeologists to consider looking past purely western-scentific ways of knowing and to seriously engage with insights that Indigenous peoples have to share. Oral histories do not need to be ‘validated’ with western-science/archaeological methods. Yet, when both of these knowledge systems align, they can powerfully challenge biases in regards to understanding the past.

Please see references on the References page.

Masters Thesis Papers:

Ursula Kilbridge, MSc Archaeological Science (2025 - present)

Developing guidelines for acquisition, storage, and return of plant and animal samples from Anishinaabe and Dene territories

Lauryn Eady-Sitar, MSc Archaeological Science (2023 – 2025)

Supporting traditional Tsattine knowledge of a buffalo hunting landscape through exploratory mapping: Kleskun Hills, Alberta

Elizabeth Carpenter, MSc Archaeological Science (2020 - 2022)

Tsattine people and bison: Pre-colonial relationships and ancestral territories

Eady-Sitar 2025

Carpenter 2022

Book Chapters (in edited volumes):

Metcalfe, J.Z., Eady-Sitar, L. & Wanihadie, V. (in press; revised manuscript submitted March 2026). Beaver but not Dane-zaa: Supporting cultural resurgence of Tsattine River People, descendants of The Beaver of Dunvegan and Grande Prairie. Chapter to be included in Ways Forward for Archaeology and Indigenous Sovereignty. L. Hodgetts, N. Lyons, & D. Wambold (Eds). UBC Press.

Conference Presentations:

Metcalfe, J.Z. & Wanihadie, V. (2026). Proboscideans and power: Palaeontological and Indigenous perspectives on giant animals in western Canada. Paper presented by J.Z.M. at the 9th International Conference on Mammoths and their Relatives, Jan. 18-26, Nairobi, Kenya.

Metcalfe, J.Z. (2024). People of the Peace: An anthropologist’s role in supporting cultural resurgence of the Tsattine (Tsa-Dene) River People. Paper presented by J.Z.M. at the 51st Annual Symposium of the Ontario Archaeological Society, October 25-27, Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Metcalfe, J.Z. (2024). Beaver but not Dane-zaa: Supporting cultural resurgence of the Tsattine (Tsa-Dene) River People. Paper presented by J.Z.M. at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, May 1-5, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Eady-Sitar, L., Wanihadie, V. & Metcalfe, J.Z. (2024). Cartographic revitalization of traditional Indigenous knowledge: Re-mapping historical Tsattine trails. Paper presented by L.E.S at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, May 1-5, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Metcalfe, J.Z. & Wanihadie, V. (2023). Building trust: The origins of the ‘Dene Bison Hunting’ project. Paper presented by J.Z.M. at the C2U (Community-College-University Exposition), June 5-8, Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Metcalfe, J.Z., Carpenter, E. & Wanihadie, V. (2022). Beaver persistence and resistance: Collaborative research on human-animal relationships. Paper presented by J.Z.M. at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, April 27-30, Edmonton, Alberta.

Metcalfe, J.Z., Carpenter, E. & Wanihadie, V. (2021). Being with bison in Beaver territory. Paper presented by J.Z.M. at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, May 5-9, virtual conference.

Wanihadie, V. & Metcalfe, J.Z. (2019). Tsattine Nisk’a: A partnership approach to preserving and revitalizing Beaver knowledge. Paper co-presented by V.W. and J.Z.M at the Dene/Indeh Reunification Meeting, Oct. 14-16, Tsuut’ina Nation, Alberta.

Other Invited Talks/Lectures:

Metcalfe, J.Z. (2026). Beaver people and giant animals. Invited lecture presented at the Tsattine Women’s and Girls’ Workshop, Feb. 21, 2026, Grande Prairie Museum, Alberta.

Metcalfe, J.Z. (2024). Beaver, but not Dane-zaa: A history of Tsattine (Tsa-Dene) River People. Invited lecture for the annual Tsattine/Beaver Storytelling Event, June 22, 2024, Historic Dunvegan Provincial Park, Alberta.

Eady-Sitar, L., Wanihadie, V. & Metcalfe, J.Z. (2024). Cartographic revitalization of traditional Indigenous knowledge: Re-mapping historical Tsattine trails. Invited lecture presented by L.E. at the annual Tsattine/Beaver Storytelling Event, June 22, 2024, Historic Dunvegan Provincial Park, Alberta.

Metcalfe, J.Z. (2021). Dene migrations: Insights from archaeology. Invited lecture for the annual Tsattine/Beaver Storytelling Event, September 2021, Historic Dunvegan Provincial Park Facebook page.

Carpenter, E. (2021). Traditional human-animal relationships in Dene and Beaver societies. Invited lecture for the annual Tsattine/Beaver Storytelling Event, September 2021, Historic Dunvegan Provincial Park Facebook page.