Bison skull discovery on Manitoba property to be used as teaching tool
CBC
A man who found a bison skull on his property in Manitoba that is estimated to be at least hundreds of years old plans on using it as a teaching aid with students in his region.
"It's one of those amazing opportunities for me to bridge that gap between our history and contemporary times and allow children to actually touch them," said Shawn Charlebois.
On Oct. 23, Charlebois was out harvesting materials on his property near Swan River, Man., about 380 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, for a land-based education workshop when he noticed parts of a skull sticking out of a river bank.
He ran home to get some help digging it out and asked his 15-year-old son Coleman Charlebois to video record the discovery.
"We didn't know what kind of skull it was," said Charlebois, who identifies as non-status Indian from Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation in New Brunswick.
"It was almost set up perfectly where that horn was embedded away from where we were excavating, when we pulled it. It was at that last moment that you could identify what it was."
Charlebois, who owns Red Road Compass, an Indigenous land-based education program, said he has found other animal skulls and even bison vertebrae in the past, but nothing this deeply buried.
"We're looking at about two to two and a half feet [60-76 centimetres] underneath the riverbank," said Charlebois.
"It was far down and . . . it was situated in a place where it was very compact, so it hasn't been disturbed for an incredibly long time."
After Charlebois found the skull, it didn't take long for it to end up in a "show and tell" inside a classroom.
His wife is a Grade 5-6 school teacher in the community and has already taken it to show to her students.
"It hasn't even been cleaned yet," said Charlebois.
"I love education and I love celebrating our Indigenous culture and making sure that kids have the opportunity to be out there."
Gary Wowchuck, who is the board chair for the Swan Valley School Division, said over 40 per cent of the student population in the region self-identifies as Indigenous, and that the skull is a great learning tool.
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador is kicking off its annual holiday campaign, helping to raise money to support local food banks.
If all goes according to plan, at 6 a.m. AT on Saturday people working at the IWK Health Centre will become the test case for a generational change to Nova Scotia’s health-care system.
One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced what he called "generational" military spending, New Brunswick’s defence ecosystem is on high alert.
Miranda Mirlycourtois, 34, looks directly at the camera and makes a confession.
Saskatoon city hall says police spending is projected to be $2.6 million over budget this year. That pushes the city into a $1.2-million deficit position, according to a report that will be considered by city council next week.
Students at the University of Regina are days away from deciding whether a newly formed student association should become their official representative body.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.