Challenges raised to widely held beliefs

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The story of the Naaneebweque, a Native rights advocate whose burial site mystery has stalled numerous attempts to develop a prime piece of real estate, is the stuff of myths and legends, says a well-known archaeologist.

"The story has been embellished and romanticized by historians and even by archaeologists who didn't check the facts,'' said Bill Fitzgerald, a retired archaeology professor with Wilfrid Laurier University.

Naaneebweque was the daughter of an Ojibwa chief. She married William Sutton, an English missionary, in 1839, and adopted the name Catharine (spelled Catherine in some documents). In 1857, she was told that she was no longer eligible for the annuity distributed to band members as payment for surrendered lands, because she had married a white man.

The Suttons' land parcel, located about 15 kilometres north of Owen Sound, was made subject to a British government ruling disallowing land ownership by Indians.

Naaneebweque, who was dubbed an "Indian princess" by the British press when she went to England in 1860 to protest Native maltreatment to Queen Victoria, is considered to be an important historical figure by First Nations people.

In 1999, developer Willis McLeese hired Fitzgerald to try to locate Naaneebweque's grave on a 580-hectare waterfront property in Georgian Bluffs north of Owen Sound. That is where McLeese plans to build a $50 million development including a golf course, a 200-room hotel and a 1,200-home community.

Documents indicate Naaneebweque was buried somewhere on the site, but numerous attempts to locate her grave, including Fitzgerald's search this spring with a magnetometer, have proved unsuccessful. A magnetometer reveals the location of disturbed soil by indicating changes in the earth's magnetic field.

Fitzgerald, who is now volunteering his time to try to solve the mystery of Naaneebweque's burial site, has located hundreds of documents about her. Some indicate that the stories about her role as a Native rights advocate have been exaggerated, he said.

"That's the power of the Catharine Sutton legend. I know it's a sensitive issue and I'm not trying to discredit her, I'm just trying to get the facts out there so that people can draw their own conclusions.

"She was perhaps a symbol of the struggle of her people, the squeaky wheel of the group,'' Fitzgerald said.

An example of the myths surrounding Naaneebweque is the widely accepted story that she went to see Queen Victoria because she and her husband William Sutton lost their land as a result of the British government ruling that disallowed land ownership by Indians, according to Fitzgerald. He said he has documents that show the Crown reversed its decision and she got her land back before she went to see Queen Victoria.

"Her handlers in England embellished the story to promote Native issues. They had their own biases and agendas. This is all about how the story has been spun,'' he said.

Fitzgerald's claim that Naaneebweque got her land back before she saw the Queen came as a shock to her great-great-great-granddaughter, Susan Schank.

"I do hope that they are not trying to erase her name from history,'' said Schank who has spent countless hours researching her ancestor's story.

"Every document I've looked at indicates that Catharine was Indian to the government when she wanted a deed for her property, and white when it came time for the annuities.

"This is very upsetting for me, but it's only deepened my resolve to dig even deeper and find out more. Perhaps she was never notified that the Crown had reversed its decision,'' said Schank.

Joyce Johnston, a councillor on the Chippewas of Nawash Ojibway reserve at Cape Croker north of Owen Sound, was also surprised when Fitzgerald introduced documents supporting his findings at a presentation last month to the local historical society. It was entitled Catharine Sutton: Crusader or Imposter?

"Even in my time, Aboriginal women were not allowed to hold a certificte of land, so if she (Naaneebweque) was allowed to own the land it would have been unique, because she had a double strike against her. She was Native and she was a woman,'' said Johnston.

Nawash chief, Ralph Akiwenzie, said that Naaneebweque is one of his people's "important figures.''

"I do hope they are not trying to downgrade this lady and that there's not plans afoot to downplay her role,'' he said.

Akiwenzie said that his research indicates that Naaneebweque's primary focus was the injustices she herself had suffered, but she also promoted Native rights in general on her trip to England and in speaking engagements across North America.

"So she had a sort of dual role,'' he said.

Sutton's Ojibway name Naaneebweque means Standing Upright Woman, said Akiwenzie.

Fitzgerald also discovered a document sent to the Indian Office by Catharine and William Sutton in the early 1850s requesting another piece of land instead of the Georgian Bluffs land given to them by the local Ojibway tribe.

"They hated that land, it was inhospitable and very remote and difficult to reach,'' said Fitzgerald.

He admits that he is no nearer resolving the mystery of where Naaneebweque is buried and said it's possible that Sutton's grave is not on the Georgian Villas property at all.

Fitzgerald found evidence the local Women's Institute erected a memorial to Naaneebweque on the property in 1938 after her gravestone built in the early 1930s was found by the side of the road. Early documents indicate the Sutton property stretched under what is now that road.

"When you embark on this kind of research, you don't expect to get a conclusion,'' said Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald also found some copies of 19th century newspapers that discredited Naaneebweque.

"So you see it wasn't me who called her an imposter,'' he said.

Meanwhile Nawash's objection to the project because it's located on waterfront land subject to a land claim is scheduled to go to a pre-hearing before the Ontario Municipal Bord Oct. 8.

The band is also concerned about the danger the runoff from the proposed golf course on the site might pose to the future of the area's Native fishery, said Akiwenzie.

"We fought so very hard for our fishing rights so we have grave concerns,'' he said.