SASKATOON, CANADA—The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports that Lauren Rooney, an archaeology student at the University of Saskatchewan, discovered a fossil at the Wolf Willow dig site in Wanuskewin Heritage Park. The ammonite fossil is estimated to be 65 million years old. This fossil had not been carved, but the Blackfoot people are known to have carved ammonite fossils into buffalo figures called Iniskim some 800 years ago for use in medicine bundles and in stories relating to the origin of the bison. “If you use your imagination, it looks like two hind legs, two front legs, and then the fifth one is where the head should be,” explained Ernie Walker of the University of Saskatchewan. He thinks the newly discovered fossil may have been brought to Wanuskewin from southern Alberta, where ammonite fossils and Iniskim are more commonly found. For more on the relationship between native peoples and bison, go to “Bison Bone Mystery.”
