Introduction | Bison Economy | Kootisaw | Fort Calgary | Ranching | Agriculture
1895-1946 | 1947-1970 | 1971-1991 | Oil & Gas | Diversification | Ethnicity | Labour | Women
Calgary & Southern Alberta
Even though there is no red dot,
"earliest known residents" is underlined and, therefore, a
link.
The earliest
known residents of what is now southern Alberta entered the
region in the shadow of receding glaciers between 11,000 and 12,000
years ago. While they did not record their activities in written
documents, they left evidence of their presence in the form of stone
tools, animal bones, charcoal from old campfires, and other
archaeological remains. Travelling in small family groups, sparse in
number, these early immigrants hunted a variety of big game. As the
climate continued to warm, the population increased in size. By 8,500
years ago, people living in different areas of southern Alberta had
evolved distinctive lifestyles closely attuned to their different
physical surroundings.
From an early date, life on the plains revolved around the seasonal movements of the great plains bison herds. Bison provided meat and marrow for food, bone for tools, and hides for tipis and clothing. Given their importance in people's material lives, it is not surprising that these animals figured prominently in religious ritual and mythology.
Bison also helped to shape the kinds of communities in which people lived. Plains people continued to spend most of their time in small, isolated bands, moving from place to place in pursuit of a variety of game. However, the logistical requirements of conducting large-scale communal bison drives and the related butchering activities imply that band members must have congregated regularly in large, strictly organised tribal communities.
Who were these first residents? Native oral history and the archaeological record clearly show they were the ancestors of the indigenous people who were living on the Great Plains when Europeans first appeared in southern Alberta in the 1700s. Identifying the specific tribe to which they belonged, however, is a difficult task.
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