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HUMAN HISTORY - First Nations
For over eleven thousand years, people have camped in
and traveled through the Crowsnest Pass. A favourable
climate, tempered by milder Pacific air masses, manifests
itself in drier weather conditions, with less winter snow
than locations even a few kilometres away.
The ancestors of the
Ktunaxa
First Nation, migrating with the seasons, taking advantage
of food-gathering and hunting opportunities used the area
as one of their main camps, returning to it repeatedly
over the centuries.
After spending the winter in the fertile and productive
valleys of the Kootenay and Columbia River systems, as the
mountain passes cleared of snow, the Ktunaxa traveled through
to the plains for a summer of bison hunting and berry
gathering. These were eaten fresh as well as preserved by
drying for later consumption. In the fall, re supplied the
Ktunaxa journeyed back to the river valleys before winter
snows blocked the pass.
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