Project cancelled to protect grave of Indian Princess

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She took her concerns about Native land claims to Queen Victoria in 1860, but it wasn't until this summer, 132 years after her death, that someone finally took some notice of Naaneebweque.

Naaneebweque's pleas to the royal fell on deaf ears, so she would probably be amazed to hear that her grave is one of the reasons a Toronto developer has pulled out of a $15 million building project.

The project proposed 1,400 seniors' condominiums, a golf course, stores and an on-site medical facility on a shoreline property in Sarawak Township, 10 km north of Owen Sound, Ont.

The developers decided to cancel the project after hearing concerns from the Chippewas of Nawash about the grave of Catharine Sutton and other possible Indian burial sites on the 580-hectare property, said developer Sheldon Rosen of the Toronto-based SDR group.

"It's one of the elements. It raised the question of what would happen if we found a grave site under the proposed town centre for example," said Rosen, who planned the development with Title-Bellinson properties.

Naaneebweque Senegal was born in 1824 to Ojibway Chief Bunch Sunego of the Eagle Totem and Mary Crane of the Otter Totem of the Credit River Band.

While still young she became the ward of the Rev. Peter Jones Kahkenwaquonaby and accompanied him on a fund raising visit to England where she went to school.

On returning to Canada in 1839, Naaneebweque married William Sutton, an English missionary, and adopted the name Catharine.

After her marriage to Sutton they moved to what is now Sarawak Township and the couple were given a gift of a 240-hectare land parcel by the Nawash band.

In 1857, though William Sutton was white, their land was declared subject to the Indian department's ruling disallowing land ownership by Native people. Meanwhile Naaneebweque had lost her band status, because she had married a white man.

In 1859, Naaneebweque was selected by a Native assembly in Lake Simcoe as an envoy to petition Queen Victoria in person for a change in land ownership rights for Natives in the Canadian colonies. To raise money for her trip, Naaneebweque went on a lecture tour of New York.

A front page story about her visit in the New York Tribune reported Naaneebweque was "erect and dignified and though her countenance is not beautiful, the expression is pleasing and intelligent."

Dubbed an "Indian Princess" by the British press, Naaneebweque presented her case to Queen Victoria in 1860.

In her diary the Queen wrote of Naaneebweque:

"She is of the yellow colour of the American Indian. . .she speaks English quite well and is come on behalf of her tribe to petition about some grievance as regards their land. . . She seems gentle and simple."

In her petition to Queen Victoria, Naaneebweque stated grievances including the loss of status by Native women who married whites and that Native land could be sold at any time without redress or compensation.

She reminded the Queen that, by colonial law, Natives were considered 'minors' with no power of legal action, had no rights to vote, could not contract or enforce debts and were excluded from government schools.

They were "in other respects placed under disabilities, which are not known as regards any other class of persons in the colonies, whether fugitive slaves, or settlers or refugees from any part of the world, and which do not exist as regards Indians settlers in the United States,'' wrote Naaneebweque in her petition to the Queen.

Queen Victoria promised her support, but none was ever forthcoming. The Suttons were paid $60 for the improvements they had made to the land that was taken away from them and William Sutton was allowed to buy back eight-hectares of their property at an auction.

Naaneebweque died four years later with the bigger battle lost. The Nawash band was banished to Cape Croker, their tribal home and individual farms lost.

Nawash Chief Ralph Akiwenzie said Naaneebweque was one of the first Indian land claim advocates and her grave s an important historical site.

"It needs to be duly recognized, but that entire area has a very rich cultural heritage as Sarawak was home to our ancestors until 1857," said Akiwenzie of the Cape Croker reserve 25 kilometres to the north.

Though the developers had assured Akiwenzie that Sutton's grave wouldn't be disturbed, Akiwenzie said he was concerned about it being preserved for future generations.

According to documents in the County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum, William Sutton and the couple's six children are buried in unmarked graves next to Catharine's. An Icelandic boy whose family was shipwrecked at Sutton Point is also believed to have been buried there.

Other concerns about the development include the band's claim of an outstanding interest in unsold surrendered lands and the environmental impact of such a huge development on the shores of Georgian Bay, said Akiwenzie.

But the possibility of Native burial sites and land claims were not the only reason the developers decided not to proceed with their option to purchase the land listed for $1.7 million, said Rosen.

"Our market research indicated that attracting a significant portion of the senior's market was going to take longer than we had anticipated," he said.

The cancellation of the project is a huge disappointment to the community, said Sarawak Reeve Barry Hatt.

"It would have been a big boost to the economy and would have doubled our population," Hatt said.

Hatt would like to see the federal government resolve Indian land and burial site claims as soon as possible.

"We get inquiries, but when someone mentions Native land claims it goes down like a lead balloon," he said.