Steering Committee Formed For Bodo Dig Society
Several people volunteered at a meeting Friday night in Bodo to form a steering committee to investigate forming an archeological society and the possibility of developing a nearby site further.

One of the group’s first tasks will be to meet with landowners and those who hold leases south and west of Bodo where vast archeological remains of bison, pottery and other items have been found in recent years.

The Bodo informational meeting started at 7:30 p.m. in the hall and was chaired by Tom Schneider.

Anthropologist and archeologist Dr. Terry Gibson, who discovered the rare undisturbed area unlike most others in Western Canada in 1995 addressed the meeting as did MLA Doug Griffiths, Murphy Oil representative Chuck Doetzel and Public Lands spokesman Harry Loonen who talked about leaseholders’ rights.

Gibson said that the site is unique in Western Canada because so much of it has not been disturbed. An average archeological site Gibson added was about the size of the room they were meeting in that night—while the Bodo site is several kilometres across. He and others including University of Alberta field school students have been finding a “vast array” of stone materials, bison and thousands of arrow points, knives and other objects. Archeology studies at the site and further investigation at the Bodo hall (old school) can reveal what season it was when the artifacts were left behind, what the people were eating, whether the household was male or female dominated and the social system because the site is so well preserved. “You don’t get that at other archeological sites.” Gibson says the people of the area appeared here about 1,000 years ago and left an incredible array of materials. There is no evidence yet found near Bodo of people living here before 1,000 years ago except there is some evidence of people here 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. This last summer’s dig helped the U of A team understand the site further.

Alberta Community Development considers the site one of the most important in Alberta if not Western Canada and wants it preserved. Their goal, points out Gibson, is protection for the site for thousands of years.

Gibson said that night that the U of A has been committing all of its resources but has had limited funds to do justice to this type of project. The university is looking for cash to help continue its research at Bodo. Gibson says that to put a project together an estimated $120,000 would be needed to begin. He said that fund raising would be required and volunteer work done.

MLA Griffiths talked about the importance of rural development and said the potential for the Bodo site is phenomenal. Although he cautioned against people expecting a great complex in one year “but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.” He pointed to Drumheller as once “a little coal town” until Tyrell Royal Museum was established. The MLA says he makes no promises but pointed out that the project fits “hand in glove” with recommendations he and another MLA made for East Central Alberta development.

Murphy Oil’s Doetzel talked of drilling operations around the site and their plans to drill on existing pads. He said that the archeological find has hampered Murphy Oil’s operations there. Murphy Oil has had to pay (by law) for archeological work and has gone around some pieces of land under advice from Gibson.

Loonen, for Public Lands talked about lease holders of the land in question and talked of implications that might occur such as possible compensation for some people. He said that so far 10 quarters are being looked at and of those, seven are Crown land leased out for grazing. Leases, he said are for 10 years before they are reviewed or renewed. He suggested that issues with lease holders and those with private land interests could be resolved, similar to oil company's such as Murphy Oil negotiates with those controlling the surface of the land.

After informal talks during a coffee break the meeting was reconvened by Schneider who said that “there is tremendous potential for all this area” meaning not just Bodo but beyond. He suggested that the future of building a larger project hinges with landowners and lease holders. He acknowledged there are a lot of issues to deal with but called for volunteers to investigate forming a society and executive and meeting with land and lease holders. Several people volunteered and will meet soon to discuss what to do next.
The meeting ended at 9:25 p.m..
Full story and picture in October 15 edition of The Provost News.
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