Budd Mission archeology site being mapped at Saskatchewan River forks

An archeology find years ago has been given new life by an amateur historian. 

Henry Budd was an Indigenous Anglican priest who came to Saskatchewan as a missionary in the 1800s. Budd settled near the Saskatchewan river forks, where the north and south Saskatchewan rivers meet.

Using old coordinates, historian and researcher Dave Rondeau and archeologist Butch Amundson trekked to the site to map it, including the site's cemetery, with support from the University of Saskatchewan's Dr. Terry Clarke, Dr. Glen Stewart and their grad students. It was originally mapped in 1986 by Dr. David Meyer. 

"Initially, it was to check the coordinates to make sure that they were correct, there had been some exploration in the area and there was concern … because sometimes these things have been recorded in the past and they're not 100 per cent accurate," Rondeau told The Morning Edition. 

Rondeau contacted the mining company Rio Tinto, which is exploring the area, about surveying and protecting the land. He said the company was supportive right off the bat, agreed to stay out of the area and helped financially with the trek. 

"I was astounded because when we reached the coordinates, we were standing in a cellar. So it was amazing to me that it had been recorded so accurately," Rondeau said. 

After they trekked out to the area, Amundson started documenting various depressions throughout the site. 

"I started making big circles, cutting through the bush around just to develop an outer perimeter. But I kept running into more and more and more depressions," Rondeau said.

"Every visit to the Budd mission always has left me with more questions than answers."

While cutting through the bush, Rondeau hit a wall of vines and realized they were hops vines, which were not native to the area whatsoever. Then about 265 meters away from the original coordinates there was a massive cellar. 

"It's 20 feet by 20 feet and seven feet deep," Rondeau said. "In the middle of the forest."

Rondeau said he spoke about the site with Meyer, who told Rondeau he'd never seen a cellar depression of that size from that era.

Amundson is continuing to map the site.

Common area for multiple cultural groups

The Budd Mission site is a common denominator between different cultural groups, including people of First Nation, Métis and European ancestry, and was a gathering area for First Nations people for centuries, Rondeau said. 

The cemetery there has around 32 people interred in it, with 17 being children, he said. 

"Each one of these families went on to have a history," Rondeau said. "One of the fascinating parts of the story is the Sturgeon Lake connection. The people of Sturgeon Lake originate from that area." 

This summer, Rondeau also led a two-day canoe trip to the site with people from Sturgeon Lake First Nation, including the chief, so that they could visit the site where some of their ancestors are buried. 

"When we arrived, they sang and sang and drummed," Rondeau said. "To hear that, it was powerful in those hills."