Saskatchewan Park Opens Window On Ancient Indian Life

It is only a three-paragraph blip in one travel guide, but Wanuskewin Heritage Park opens a window to a way of life thousands of years old.

Here the “First Peoples” came for centuries. To renew. To learn. To dance rituals. To hold sweat lodges. To tell stories so that those who came after them would remember and be strong.

Their legacy is preserved in a 290-acre park testifying to American Indian strength and dignity.

Canada’s First Peoples, as the descendants of these ancient American Indians named them, were hunter-gatherers who lived among these sloping barren plains and occasional wooded oases.

The park devoted to their history and future nestles along the west bank of the South Saskatchewan River several miles north of Saskatoon, a bustling city of 200,000 in Canada’s plains north of Montana.

The name Wanuskewin (Wah-nus-KAY-win) derives from a Cree Indian word meaning “seeking peace of mind.” Wanuskewin was a central site for the First Peoples.

There was - and is - a quiet magic to this valley with its panoramic view and ambience of peace.

Wanuskewin is a museum, a school, a philanthropy and an archaeological dig. As a travel destination, it can be a quick trip into Indian history and culture, or a mesmerizing voyage through another way of life.

The park opened to visitors in 1992, after University of Saskatchewan archaeologist Ernie Walker identified 21 significant sites, including 19 that are prehistoric.

In the park’s printed guide, Walker says the large number of prehistoric sites is “ample evidence that this relatively small tributary creek valley attracted human occupation for thousands of years.”

Entering by car down a wide dirt road, visitors revel in the landscape’s stark simplicity.

Walking toward the visitor center, you feel as though you’ve joined an ancient bison hunt.

You pass through a series of stone cairns that mark where the buffalo “drive lanes” would have been.

In the center’s lobby, six buffalo figures respond to the call of a shaman. Sculpted from stone, the shaman grasps the head of a buffalo in his powerful hands.

He knits his face in concentration as he summons the beasts, which were sacred to Indians and essential to their survival.

American Indian reverence for life and the land is woven into the park’s exhibits, teaching events and archaeological work. With staff assistance, visitors can tan hides, load a travois pulled by dogs, help build a tepee, or maybe even bake a bannock - a flat, oatmeal-like cake.

There are children’s games; audiovisual, computer-activated and interactive displays; hands-on exhibits; and a 500-seat amphitheater where Indian artists re-create the dances, stories and music of their cultures.

Outside, four trails take you through the grounds, where you encounter archaeological sites explore discoveries testifying to Wanuskewin’s significance to Indian civilization and spirituality.

Among them are tepee rings, indicating ancient individual dwellings at Wanuskewin; the medicine wheel, one of 100 scattered across Canada’s northern plans; and a 1,500-year-old buffalo jump, a ledge where stampeding bison plunged to their deaths. Both the circle and the medicine wheel remain important American Indian symbols.

Whichever trail you choose, bask in the comforting quiet of Wanuskewin.

You may have a deep sense that others have walked before you and others will follow.

MEMO: The park is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. until the end of May, then until 8 p.m. through Labor Day. Call (306) 931-6767 for updated information about ticket costs, and contact the Saskatoon tourism office at (306) 242-1206 for information about area museums and other attractions; lodging, dining and entertainment options.