KPU launches archeological assessments of university land

Evidence of Indigenous activity up to 5,000 years old was found at the Langley campus

Brendan Gray (left) presenting potential archeological material. (Kwantlen Polytechnic University/Flickr)

Brendan Gray (left) presenting potential archeological material. (Kwantlen Polytechnic University/Flickr)

Last fall, archaeologist Brendan Gray and an accompanying team of four First Nations field workers, representing three nations, completed a two-day field survey of the land Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Langley campus stands on.

The survey revealed remnant evidence of Indigenous human activity potentially up to 5,000 years old around the creeks that run through KPU’s Langley campus. The field survey was a visual-only overview of land with no digging allowed — an initial step to identify potential areas of archeological significance. 

“Anytime you find an archeological site, [the field workers] are really excited, as am I, because it is actual, physical, on-the-ground evidence of land use,” says Gray, who has worked as an archaeologist for more than 20 years. 

Three things were recorded on the archaeological site — a piece of burnt bone, a piece of waste product from crafting a stone tool, and a piece of fire-cracked rock — evidence of burning or cooking. 

While a draft report of the team’s findings was presented to KPU in December, a final report is expected to be released and sent to First Nations for approval in February or March this year. During that time, a KPU spokesperson says they will make a decision on how to move forward. 

Gray says if KPU chooses to pursue more in-depth research based on the draft report, they will be able to dig around the site to look for more evidence, examine the remnants thoroughly, and potentially learn more about Indigenous activity on the land. 

“Ultimately, it would be a lot more exciting if we were able to do more work and find some actual spear points or get a radio carbon date to see how old [the remnants are],” Gray says. “We’re only just scratching the surface right now as to what’s going on at the site.” 

The initiative was a joint project between KPU and the KPU Communities Trust, which was established in May 2022 to explore and advance development on parts of the university campus. The trust is separate from the university, but it works very closely with KPU. 

“Obviously we’d have to do internal approval to make sure that that is something worth confirming and moving ahead with,” says Helen Lui, director of development for the KPU Communities Trust. “But I think that meaningful reconciliation is a very important value of all of our work, so I wouldn’t see why we wouldn’t continue on to the next step.”

KPU and the trust were interested in bringing in archaeologists prior to developing lands not needed for academic use as part of the KPU 2050 plan and the university’s commitment to reconciliation, Lui says.  

“It prompts us to think more [about the] big picture before we do any development and get going on any actual demolition or even construction,” Lui says. “It’s really important for us to understand that holistic history … and understand the involvement of the Indigenous nations in these areas.”

Gray and his team at Cordillera Archaeology were asked by the university to complete the land survey last year. He says they have a close working relationship with the Kwantlen First Nation. 

He adds it is vital to involve Indigenous Peoples in human archeology because nearly all archaeology in the province is Indigenous archeology. 

“By involving a lot of Indigenous people, who have knowledge themselves or have knowledge from their parents or their grandparents about the area, they’re often telling us, ‘[Here’s] a really important spot where we might find an archeological site,’” Gray says. 

“It really makes my job easier when I have these sorts of inputs from people who know the landscape through a much more historical perspective.”