Abstract

The idea that developers who are impacting archaeological remains should pay for the necessary archaeological research was first successfully implemented in British Columbia in 1951-52 by the late C.E. Borden. He successfully solicited funds from the Ministry of Education and the Alcan Aluminum Company for the archaeological exploration of the reservoir area soon to be flooded by construction of the Kinney dam on the Nechako River. Archaeological survey was undertaken in 1951 and excavation of key sites in 1952. Although the amount of funding seems very little by today's standards it was a significant amount for that time, and allowed Borden to arrive at a chronology for the region and draw certain cultural-historical conclusions. It also set in motion the development of the site designation system still used in most of Canada today, and the drafting of the Archaeological and Historic Sites Protection Act which eventually led to the present legislation and the evolution of the Archaeology Branch from earlier government bodies. In this paper I review the archaeological data from the excavations in the reservoir area.