Lytton residents say archaeology work the latest roadblock to rebuilding efforts

N'kixw'stn James has set up a teepee on what remains of her property in Lytton, B.C.   

The 78-year-old elder from Nlaka'pamux Nation lost her home to a 2021 wildfire that swept through the village.

More than 27 months after the disaster, James says she still doesn't know when she is returning home.

"I have been homeless," says James, who has been living as an evacuee at a senior residence home in Merritt, B.C., around 100 kilometres east of Lytton. 

Frustrated by the protracted rebuilding work, James erected a teepee on her property.

"I am making a statement. My ancestors have had their teepees, their longhouses in Lytton for centuries," she said.

Lytton residents rallied on Wednesday in protest of repeated delays to rebuild their community.

"The question to government is what is your plan?'' said Opposition B.C. United MLA Jackie Tegart, who represents the Fraser Canyon community in the legislature.

"That's the question I ask every day.''

Archaeology work a roadblock to rebuilding, says mayor

Archaeologists say thousands of artifacts have been uncovered as they dig below what was Lytton.

But for those who lost their homes and businesses in the village, that careful research has been one more roadblock to the rebuilding process, Lytton Mayor Denise O'Connor said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

When gold miners arrived in the area in 1858, they began building on the site of the Nlaka'pamux First Nation village and its burial grounds, and as the village grew, the nation's history was lost or obscured.

The site is protected under B.C.'s Heritage Conservation Act.

Lytton's council awarded a provincially-funded contract in March 2022 to the consulting firm AEW for archaeological and heritage monitoring. The firm was formed in 2017 by the Nlaka'pamux Nation Tribal member communities.

In a statement to CBC News, AEW said archaeologists have so far uncovered thousands of artifacts, including a 7,500-year-old spear point. 

But the time and expense required for such archaeological monitoring has significantly slowed down work, says Bernie Fandrich, vice-president of the Lytton & District Chamber of Commerce.

"People of Lytton are very upset with the archaeology component and the rally is basically protesting it ... Nothing has begun and not one building permit has been issued," Fandrich told CBC News.

Residents say archaeological monitoring costly

Fandrich says the archaeological monitors are costing residents money.

During a Village of Lytton community meeting on Sept. 14, resident Lilliane Graie said she had received a quote of $1,686 a day from AEW for digging a two-metre trench.

James says she was shocked by the price tag for rebuilding her basement. 

"I was told that I had to pay $16,000 because the anthropologists have to come and supervise because there might be artifacts underneath," she said. "Any artifact in that soil where my house stands is mine."

Home insurance doesn't include coverage for things buried in the ground, according to Insurance Bureau of Canada vice-president Aaron Sutherland. 

With more delays, Sutherland says he has started seeing residents opt for a cash settlement instead of reconstruction.

"As this takes longer, people just call insurance companies, taking cash and moving away to go live somewhere else," he said. "Fewer people are having the desire to rebuild and stay in their community."

AEW says the notion that archaeology is delaying recovery and remediation "is a false narrative based on misinformation,'' noting that the work has been done concurrently with recovery, remediation and backfilling.

Peter Martell, executive director at AEW, said he understands residents' frustration, but one "can't simply choose not to comply with the heritage permit and the regulations to speed up the work."

When asked about the pricing, Martell said the cost of heritage monitoring is not significantly different from environmental monitoring or other professional services.

"Our rates are competitive," he said. 

In the meantime, James says her future is uncertain.

"I have no clue what I should do next," she said. "I just know that I am not paying $16,000 for some archaeologists to sit on my property while the diggers dig the dirt in my basement."