Article content continued

The commission said “removing artifacts from their original context greatly diminishes the information that can be extracted from them.”

The Unist’ot’en said they have not been included in the archeological work done on their territory.

“Wet’suwet’en cultural artifacts cannot be properly identified and analyzed without the input of Wet’suwet’en people,” it said.

Coastal GasLink said in a statement it has been cleared to resume construction and it has filed a mitigation plan that has been accepted by the commission and the archaeology branch. The plan requires an archeologist to determine if there is additional cultural material, sample topsoil stockpiled on the edge of the site, supervise construction operations and further assess the topsoil when it is spread back on the site.

The company said the province has added the site to its archeological database based on the presence of artifacts at the spot.

The company quoted the Forests Ministry as saying there was “strong evidence” the artifacts had been moved from their original location, as they were found sitting on top of a frozen slab of clay. Remaining sediments are considered to be “culturally sterile,” it added.

The Forests Ministry said in a statement it was impossible to determine the age of the artifacts or attribute them to a specific Indigenous community.

“There is no way to determine when or how they came to be in the location,” it added.

Analysis of the artifacts is complete and the branch is now working toward returning them to the appropriate communities, it said.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline would transport natural gas from northeastern B.C. to LNG Canada’s export terminal in Kitimat on the coast.

In January, police arrested 14 people at a blockade in the area.

The company says it has approval to build the pipeline from First Nations along the pipeline, but some Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs say they haven’t given their consent.

CLICK HERE to report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.