Students see a slide show on the reconstruction of a kekuli, or winter dwelling, a set of Shuswap pictograph slides, do an art project, and are introduced to basic archaeology skills. They also map and excavate a one metre square pit salted with replicas, bones, and debitage.

Digging in the dirt, sifting sand, and searching for arrow heads sounds more like summer fun than schoolwork. However, students taking part in the introduction to archaeology find out there is a lot to digging in this dirt! The program looks at how artifacts tell the story of Canada's First Peoples. Learning outcomes are to have students understand the techniques used by archaeologists to study past cultures.

The program coordinator is Deborah Chapman, curator/archivist at the Salmon Arm Museum. She has an undergraduate degree in anthropology from St. Mary's University and specializes in Archaeology of the New World.

Through the slide presentation, Chapman discusses pictographs, or paintings on rock, of the Shuswap area and the reconstruction of a kekuli, the Secwepemc, or Shuswap winter dwelling, on the Neskonlith No. 3 Band Reserve. One theory explains pictographs as creations of young adults on a vision quest. After a reading from We Are The Shuswap, Chapman has the students create a pictograph symbol and paint it. They describe the symbol and describe events leading up to its creation.

Finally, it is out of doors for the last part of the program. Students participate in a mock dig. Outside they learn about what archaeology is, what we learn from it, and what it takes to become an archaeologist.