Experience Alberta’s History Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site, Photos Courtesy of Alberta Culture and Tourism
Birthed in glacial waters, Alberta’s rivers have profoundly shaped the province’s geography carving valleys and creating passes. These watersheds nourish cities, agriculture and wildlife, and support industry before emptying into Hudson’s Bay or the Atlantic Ocean far away. Long ago, Alberta’s rivers supported human activity. First peoples used rivers for travel routes, as markers of tribal boundaries and as a hunting aid. Overlooking the Oldman River is Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site. For 6000 years plains peoples stampeded countless bison over cliffs to kill sites where the carcasses were butchered. This award winning centre is one of the oldest and best preserved examples of such hunting sites in the world; unveiling archaeological sites and the importance of buffalo to first peoples. history.alberta.ca/headsmashedin With the arrival of European traders the traditional bison jumps ended in the 18th century. Manufactured goods (such as guns, knives, pots, fabrics and alcohol) came west on rivers. In return, the indigenous-supplied furs moved eastward and across the Atlantic to be made into fashion items including hats and clothing. Built upon the collaboration of the first peoples, the fur trade lasted for hundreds of years. Trading posts were built along indigenous trade routes. Aboriginal
technology, the birch bark canoe, dog sled, snowshoe and bison pemmican, enabled a transcontinental trade network. The offspring of indigenous and European peoples, the Métis, developed their own distinct cultures. Thus, Canada was born in the process of the fur trade. European trade items made life easier, but the fur trade had profound impacts on first peoples - stirring intertribal rivalries and increasing violence, traditional religions were displaced by Christianity, populations were decimated by smallpox, fur bearing animal numbers collapsed and bison were hunted to near extinction. Places of note include: Fort George and Buckingham House Provincial Historic Site is the location of two rival trading posts established in the 1790’s by the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company. Here archaeological remains are brought to life by dynamic presentations. history.alberta.ca/fortgeorge Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site is located at the confluence of the North Saskatchewan and Clearwater rivers. Here, 5 trading posts across 75 years witnessed trade with plains peoples and served as a jumping-off point for trans-mountain exploration. pc.gc.ca/rockymountainhouse
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