Climate change, eroding shorelines and the race against time to save Indigenous history

On the shores of Leamy Lake Park along the Ottawa River, with Parliament Hill on the horizon, there's a flurry of activity.

Spades are gently digging and scraping through the earth. Sand is being poured through sifters. Mud is being washed away — all in the hopes of finding a piece of history.

Archaeologists have known the historical significance of this site for years. The area, managed by the National Capital Commission (NCC), has been known to contain artifacts older than the pyramids, according to researchers.

Indigenous communities would use the rivers and lakes around what's now the National Capital Region as highways, travelling by canoe to meet and trade goods, according to Jennifer Tenasco, a member of Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg First Nation.

"Lake Leamy is what we call Kabeshinan, and it means campsite or gathering site, a place that we've gathered or our ancestors have gathered on," she said.

Tenasco is also a supervisor of the Anishinābe Odjìbikan field school, which partners with the NCC on archaeological digs, to help uncover parts of Indigenous history.

"The land is very important and it tells our story and it tells our history," Tenasco said,

But over the years, the objective of these archaeological digs has changed: It's no longer just about discovery. 

The goal now is to find and save as many artifacts as possible before they become the victims of erosion — and time is running out.

"We're seeing the water literally eat away at lower levels of clay, and what that's doing is undermining the soil and causing giant chunks of clay to fall off the side of the site," said NCC archaeologist Monica Micah.

Micah is one of the archaeologists witnessing first-hand the toll climate change is having on shores and coastlines.

"Mother Nature can be a pretty cruel mistress sometimes," said Micah. "We're doing our best to get ahead of her and try and learn as much as we can about this, but it is definitely sad as an archaeologist to literally see artifacts falling into the river, never to be recovered again."

In one case earlier this year, an NCC archaeologist discovered an Indigenous-made pot estimated to be up to 1,600 years old at another site in Leamy Lake Park, but Micah said only half the artifact could be recovered because the rest had already been swept away to the bottom of the Ottawa River.

And it's not just artifacts at risk. The soil in which they're found provides a lot of context for archaeologists, including when and where human activity took place. When that soil is disturbed by waves or powerful storms, those clues disappear.