Ancient History
In October 1990, Gordon Mohs, archaeologist with the Stó:lo Nation, discovered several stone tools while investigating the Sunnyside Drive subdivision development in Mission. While a brief survey revealed hundreds of stone tools exposed by the bulldozer's work, the owner and developer of the sub-division agreed to stop further clearing until an extensive archaeological survey could be completed.
The first archaeological excavations were done in the fall of 1990 under spartan conditions before the rainy weather set in. Information gathered at this time proved the site was extremely rich and a more extensive excavation was then planned.
In 1991, archaeologists from the University of British Columbia and the Stó:lo Nation uncovered the remains of an ancient dwelling and collected thousands of artifacts from the bulldozed surface of the site.
In July of 1992, the Federal Government officially designated XÁ:YTEM as a National Historic Site, one of the first Native spiritual sites in Canada to be formally recognized in this manner. The following year, the provincial government of BC announced the eighteen acres had been acquired through a special arrangement with the owner of the property.
Archaeologists at XÁ:YTEM excavated down to a 10 by 12 meter house floor approximately 3.5 meters below ground level. The exposed 'floor' of the house revealed that it had been specially prepared with packed sand and clay. A dozen dark, circular patches of soil are the remains of the house's supporting wooden posts called post-mould features. Since the dwelling may have been occupied over a 300-year period, the post-mould features likely belong to several occupations and renovations. Imagine the archaeologist's job of sorting out when and how many times the house was renovated!
In 1894, anthropologist Charles Hill-Tout opened one of the burial mounds near XÁ:YTEM. Since then, over 350 prehistoric sites and an additional 200 sacred sites have been recorded in the traditional Stó:lo territory. This represents only a portion of the Fraser Valley which has been surveyed for heritage sites. Today, the heritage staff at Stó:lo Nation is working to record and preserve the traditional village sites, seasonal camps, ceremonial and spiritual places in their territory.
Open year round!
