Whatever the original significance and use of the Pukaskwa Pits, wardens like Stan Nabigon, along with an archeologist, are busy recording and monitoring what is there today, along with other built features in the park such as the remnants of ancient fire pits, stone structures, and rock mounds, many of them sacred to the local Aboriginal people. “The park actually has hundreds of historical sites,” he says, “so we must schedule our work carefully, tackling four or five sites each year.”

One of the first things that’s carried out is a survey of each site’s elevation. Nabigon explains that this is done to try to gauge where the site is in relation to the shoreline, both currently and historically. For example, one that is now 9 to 12 metres above the shoreline might once have been much closer to the lake, as the water may have been as much as 6 metres higher when they the site was originally established. This is just one of many painstaking tasks that must be performed at each site over four or five

days, sometimes longer. The exact location of each feature at the site must be recorded, as are its dimensions. Also measured is the average size of each stone around a site, and, as Nibigon describes it, a “photo mosaic” of the entire site is created. This is accomplished using a camera mounted on a bipod 6 metres above the ground. That way, pictures can be taken row-by-row to create a combination of images that cover every part of the site. Some features are even outlined with flour to expose their details in the photos. (Flour is used as it will harmlessly wash away with rain.) Once completed, the picture mosaic will be compared with photographs taken in previous years. By doing so, disturbances can be identified. These can be natural, such as stones knocked over by a falling tree or a passing bear or caribou. Or they can be the result of human activity: transient canoeists, for example, who decide to forge a trial from the shoreline to visit a site.

Happily, incidences of human disturbance are not high at the Pukaskwa sites, but they have increased over the years. To help minimize the contemporary human footprint on the sites, the wardens, in consultation with the local Aboriginal communities, have now posted signs around sites explaining their historical and cultural significance. These signs also, of course, ask visitors not to disturb these ancient and potentially sacred spaces.

Public Archeology and Oral History in Tuktut Nogait

Established only in 1996 and located 170 km north of the Arctic Circle, Tuktut Nogait National Park receives very few visitors. Almost all the humans going in and out of the park are Inuvialuit, an Inuit people, and they have been in this region for a very long time. From the park’s beginnings, they have worked very closely with Parks Canada staff to identify, document, and