landmarks
Frozen Secrets
by Kerry Banks >>
photograph by Bruce Kirkby
In 1999, three hunters discovered the frozen
remains of a young aboriginal man, along with a
squirrel-skin robe, woven hat, walking stick, knife
(see inset) and other tools, at the edge of
a glacier in northwest B.C.'s Tatshenshini-Alsek Park — within the traditional territory of the Champagne
and Aishihik First Nations. The body,
named Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi (meaning Long Ago Person Found in the
southern Tutchone language),
was exhumed and transferred to
the Royal BC Museum in Victoria
for study, where it quickly became apparent these
were the oldest and best-preserved human remains
ever discovered in North America. >> More findings
have been revealed in the years since: the man was
in his late teens when he died, somewhere between
1720 and 1850 AD, and he had travelled some 100 km
in the days before his death. But far more will be disclosed in a book the museum will publish in 2012,
with various experts offering insights into
Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi's heritage, health, diet and
clothing, as well as the implements he carried.
Behind the scenes at the Royal BC Museum:
www.bcaa.com/museum
Y Victoria Member-travel savings: www.bcaa.com/
victoria; publication details on the Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi book
available, in 2012, at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/publications
46 W E S T W O R L D
p46-47_Landmarks.indd 46
>>
WINTER 2011
(inset: knife, and the pouch in which it was carried) Yukon Government Heritage Branch
10/25/11 12:10:25 PM
