Nations join together to restore burial site

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Representatives from three different nations took part in a ceremony held to right a wrong after a construction project disturbed the remains of their ancestors.

The remains of what is believed to be 15 individuals were uncovered on Aug. 11 by a construction crew working to expand Teston Rd. in Vaughan.

Once it was determined the bones were the remains of Aboriginal people, Tracy Gauthier, chief of the nearby Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, was contacted. Gauthier in turn called Kris Nahrgang, Chief of the Kawartha Nishnawbe First Nation and the designated archaeological liaison for Scugog Island.

Huron and Scugog representatives met with Nahrgang on Aug. 24 in Toronto to discuss what should happen to the remains. Nahrgang said it was a great conversation and they agreed that the remains should be left where they are.

It was common practice among the Huron people to use burial pits like the one uncovered, Nahrgang said. Every time they would move their community, they would gather the bones of their dead and put them in a communal burial pit before moving on to their new village site.

While evidence points to the find being a burial site used by the Huron people, there is a chance the site contains the remains of Ojibway and Iroquoian people as well, Nahrgang said.

"We think and probably feel that these ancestors in this burial pit are probably from all of our people."

A Huron traditional person told Nahrgang that the bones have two souls. One stays with the body and the other one goes on. Nahrgang said that when they first looked at the remains, the traditionalists spoke to them as if they were still alive and apologized for disturbing them and for everything that has happened to them.

"A ceremony has been done for them by all three Nations," said Nahrgang.

He said he is happy with how the Huron, Iroquois and Ojibway nations came together and agreed that no specific group should take ownership of the remains, and that they should remain in place.

"What we have created here, now, for the first time in the history of well history is what looks like a circle," said Nahrgang. "This circle is all of the Iroquoian-speaking Nation, the Huron Nation and Ojibway Nation all working together to look after these types of things when they come up. Nobody takes actual ownership of the bones or artifacts but we work as a group to make sure that these interests are met. We are actually one voice, which has never happened, not in our territories, anyway. We have never been really close, so this is a big day for us."

Nahrgang said that York Region has offered to recreate the well that originally housed the remains, which was damaged by previous roadwork. In 1970, when Teston Rd. was originally put in, the road crew hit the pit but nobody said anything, Nahrgang said.

"It was known, but it wasn't mentioned."

The region will put a layer of dirt around the edge of the burial site, followed by logs and then cement to ensure that the remains won't be disturbed again. The site will be designated as a cemetery and a monument will be erected to mark the location.

"This will also be a reminder for people driving by that we are here," said Nahrgang.

The restoration of the burial site is expected to be completed early in September.