Member of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: October 30, 2003
• Invested on: May 14, 2004

His groundbreaking archaeological work in western Canada is considered the foundation of our knowledge of the Northern Plains First Nations people. During the 1940s and 1950s, Boyd Wettlaufer played a key role in the excavations of the Heads Smashed-In Buffalo Jump site in Alberta and the Mortlach and Long Creek sites in Saskatchewan. He was one of the first archaeologists in Canada to use the radiocarbon dating method to establish the ages of various layers of settlements. His reports provided invaluable information on the differences between various hunting and gathering cultures dating back several thousand years.