Digging up the past to build for the future in Sheshatshiu

Just off a residential street in Sheshatshiu, locals, students and others are on their hands and knees sifting through the earth.

They're finding tools and other artifacts used by Innu people who used to camp and live there thousands of years ago — clearing the way for much-needed modern-day dwellings to be built.

"It's important because you uncover the history of the way they lived way back, so I think it's pretty important they maintain it," elder Jack Selma said.

Right now there are 130 families on the waiting list in Sheshatshiu for new housing. Clearing space for new homes is an important focus for the community, but so is telling the story of the past.

"I think it's pretty cool to know that our Innu people were here, like thousands of years ago, making stone tools," said Kayla Jourdain, 17, of Sheshatshiu as she scraped through the earth.

We're respecting the land, not just destroying it.- Eugene Hart

The spot the group is working on should clear the way for two new houses to be built.

Just across the road there are three more lots that need to be cleared. 

"Every day we're looking for housing," Sheshatshiu Chief Eugene Hart said.

"Our elders and ancestors from the past, they were here. We're respecting the land, not just destroying it."

"The community really needs to be commended for recognizing the significance of the resources here and actually putting in the manpower," said Scott Neilsen, a MUN archaeology professor who's heading up the project.

"It will pay off in the long term because they can have a story that they can tell."