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AN OSTEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL EXAMINATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN FOREST CENTRE CEMETERY PRINCE ALBERT, SASKATCHEWAN A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts In the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Lisa Marie Rudolph © Copyright Lisa Marie Rudolph, July, 2010. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Archaeology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B1 i ABSTRACT On October 7th, 2004, construction of the Saskatchewan Forest Centre Building in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan was temporarily halted due to the exposure of human remains from within the soil matrix. Subsequent archaeological investigation revealed the presence of numerous rectangular soil stains suggesting the presence of additional interments within the construction site. The remains of two individuals were recovered during this original construction exposure. The following spring, Western Heritage Services, Inc., in coordination with the Department of Archaeology, University of Saskatchewan, conducted an extensive excavation at the site which unearthed 19 individuals of different racial affiliation, sex, and age. Interment location and an extensive document and literature review suggest that this was the cemetery established by Rev. James Nisbet, founder of the Prince Albert mission. This mission would evolve into the City of Prince Albert. The historic significance and sensitive nature of the site required the involvement of several interest groups including the Heritage Resource Branch of the Department of Saskatchewan Culture, Youth and Recreation, the Prince Albert Historical Society, and above all, St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church which was responsible for the reinterment of the Forest Centre individuals and was an indispensable source of information. Prior to reinterment, a fundamental osteological and paleopathological examination was conducted for each of the 21 individuals. Coordination and completion of cultural material analysis was performed by Amanda Boechler, an undergraduate archaeology student of the University of Saskatchewan and Mark MacKenzie of the Western Development Museum. Preliminary results may be ii found within the final site report issued by Western Heritage Services, Inc. dated November, 2005. iii Acknowledgements There are numerous individuals to whom I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude. Foremost, I would like to thank Dr. E.G. (Ernie) Walker for his continuous support and advice. Your encouragement and endless knowledge has been indispensable. Thank you also to my committee members, Dr. M. Kennedy and Dr. C. Foley, and to Dr. D. Meyer for their helpful comments and support. Hugs to Butch Amundson and Kristin Enns-Kavanagh of Stantec Consulting Ltd. Thanks for believing in me and for providing me with a never-ending education. Here’s to future adventures together! Thank you to Western Heritage Services, Inc. Thanks for allowing me to incorporate my research and making every effort to help me during the process! Special thank yous to Jamie Benson, the Prince Albert Historical Society, the Prince Albert Genealogical Society and Rev. Dr. Sandy Scott of the St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church. You were all integral to the project! Thank you also to Treena Swanston and Amanda Boechler. Your insight, advice and encouragement were very appreciated! To my family – Tony, Bonnie, Andy and Corey. Thank you for always being there for me. I could never have got this far without all of you! Love you all! Dedicated to Uncle (Dr.) Ted Clark. You have always been my inspiration. iv Table of Contents PERMISSION TO USE ............................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEGMENTS ............................................................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................. xiv LIST OF APPENDICES......................................................................................................................... xvii CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Forest Centre Cemetery Background 1.2 Research Objectives 1.2.1 Recovery of Human Remains 1.2.2 Modern Location of the Forest Centre Cemetery CHAPTER TWO: Historical Background........................................................................................ 9 2.1 Reverend James Nisbet and the Establishment of the Settlement of Prince Albert 2.2 Historical Location of the Forest Centre Cemetery and Chronology of the Presbyterian Church in Prince Albert 2.2.1 The Mission Houses and Outbuildings 2.2.2 The 1867 Schoolhouse vs. the 1872 Church 2.2.2.1 The Mission Schoolhouse 2.2.2.2 The 1872 Church 2.2.3 The 1881 Church 2.2.4 The 1883 Manse 2.2.5 The 1891 Church 2.2.6 The 1906 Church 2.3 Historical Location of the Forest Centre Cemetery 2.3.1 1866 to 1874: Rev. James Nisbet’s Records 2.3.2 Post-1874 Accounts 2.4 Archaeological Evidence 2.5 South Hill Cemetery Records 2.6 Summary CHAPTER THREE: Cemetery Description ................................................................................... 50 v 3.1 Cemetery Organization 3.1.1 Cemetery Arrangement and Grave Orientation 3.1.2 Grave Depth 3.2 Burial Style 3.2.1 Coffin Construction 3.2.1.1 Pseudo-Hexagonal 3.2.1.2 Pseudo-Hexagonal with Double Walls and Head Cradle 3.2.1.3 Double-walled 3.3 Mortuary Material 3.3.1 Nails and Other Coffin Hardware 3.3.1.1 Nails 3.3.1.2 Screws 3.3.1.3 Tacks 3.3.1.4 Hinges 3.3.2 Coffin Textiles and Materials 3.3.2.1 Lining and Wood Shavings 3.3.2.2 Shrouding 3.3.2.3 Mattress 3.3.2.4 Coffin Wood Analysis 3.4 Cultural Material 3.4.1 Buttons 3.4.2 Pins 3.4.3 Buckles 3.4.4 Textiles 3.4.5 Grave Twenty-Five Assemblage 3.4.5.1 Hudson’s Bay Company Blanket 3.4.5.2 Clothing 3.4.5.3 Socks 3.4.5.4 Adornment 3.4.5.5 Miscellaneous 3.5 Why Is This Not a Traditional First Nation’s Burial? 3.5.1 Location 3.5.2 Coffins and Burial Style 3.5.3 Grave Inclusions and Body Treatment 3.5.4 Number of Burials 3.5 Summary CHAPTER FOUR: Cemetery Description ............................................................................................. 73 4.1 Field Methodology 4.1.1 Ground Penetrating Radar Survey vi 4.1.2 Documentation 4.1.3 Excavation Methodology 4.1.3.1 Layer One 4.1.3.2 Layer Two 4.1.3.3 Layer Three 4.1.3.4 Removal of Human Remains 4.2 General Laboratory Methodology 4.2.1 Cleaning Methods 4.2.2 Initial Cataloguing 4.2.3 Primary Cataloguing 4.2.4 Recording 4.2.5 Sampling Techniques 4.2.6 Photography and Radiology 4.3 Analysis Methodology 4.3.1 Subadult Non-Metric Analysis 4.3.1.1 Epiphyseal Appearance and Fusion 4.3.1.2 Mandible and Ilium Morphology 4.3.1.3 Racial Affiliation 4.3.2 Adult Non-Metric Analysis 4.3.2.1 Non-Metric Skeletal Traits 4.3.2.2 General Innominate Morphology 4.3.2.3 Pubic Symphyseal Surface, Auricular Surface and Rib End Morphology 4.3.2.4 Cranial Morphology 4.3.3 Sub-Adult and Adult Metric Analysis 4.3.3.1 Osteometrics of the Postcranial Skeleton 4.3.3.2 Cranial Metric Analysis CHAPTER FIVE: Osteological Burial Descriptions ............................................................................. 88 5.0 Graves One and Three to Six 5.1 Grave Eight 5.1.1 Skeletal Description 5.1.2 Determined Age Range 5.1.2.1 Non-Metric Analysis – Epiphyseal Appearance / Fusion 5.1.2.2 Metric Analysis – Maximum Diaphyseal Length 5.1.2.3 Odontological Age Range 5.1.2.4 Individual Eight Age Summary 5.1.3 Racial Affiliation 5.1.4 Sex Determination 5.1.5 Individual Eight Osteological Summary 5.2 Grave Nine vii 5.2.1 Skeletal Description 5.2.2 Determined Age Range 5.2.3 Racial Affiliation 5.2.4 Sex Determination 5.2.5 Individual Nine Osteological Summary 5.3 Grave Ten 5.3.1 Skeletal Description 5.3.2 Determined Age Range 5.3.2.1 Non-Metric Analysis – Epiphyseal Appearance / Fusion 5.3.2.2 Metric Analysis – Maximum Diaphyseal Length 5.3.2.3 Odontological Age Range 5.3.2.4 Individual Ten Age Summary 5.3.3 Racial Affiliation