Sarnia backyard in the news
By Mark Schadenberg
What happens if you discover a former cemetery on your
property?
There are many stories about archeological findings when a
new subdivision is under construction, especially when you consider lands
adjoining rivers and lakes where people have lived for hundreds of years in
southern Ontario.
For example, south of Woodstock – the Old Stage Road – is
just that an old stage road.
Near Norwich is a former Quaker pioneer settlement which
has been protected and includes a provincial historic plaque (http://www.ontarioplaques.com/Plaques_MNO/Plaque_Oxford04.html)
at the site.
Here’s a story receiving publicity now about an ancient
skeleton found on a Sarnia property.
()()()()()()()()()()()
400-year-old skeleton of aboriginal woman found in Sarnia
backyard costs couple $5,000
The story of Nicole Sauve, who found 400-year-old bones
in her Point Edward backyard, was ordered to hire an archaeologist, and is now
saddled with a $5,000 bill.
Toronto Star; news reporter, published
on Sat Jun 15 2013
SARNIA -- A
Sarnia couple who set out to build a fence dug up more than they bargained for
recently when they unearthed a 400-year-old skeleton and got stuck with a
$5,000 bill from the province.
The
archeological misadventure began two weeks ago when Ken Campbell came across
some bones while digging post holes in their backyard.
He put them
aside, thinking they must have belonged to an animal. The following week, his
wife, Nicole Sauve, asked about the bones, which sat unceremoniously atop a
bucket of earth
“I said,
‘They’re not animal bones, Ken. Let’s dig some more and see what we can find,’
”she said.
What they
found was the rest of the skeleton of an aboriginal woman.
The OPP, who
taped off the couple’s backyard, called in forensic anthropologist Michael
Spence to examine the site.
Spence told
the Star that the skeleton was that of a woman who was about 24 years old when
she died, probably in the late 1500s or early 1600s.
The condition
of her teeth led him to suspect she was part of hunting, gathering and fishing
society.
The couple
lives by the Blue Water Bridge, an area that once was the centre of an Ojibwa
trade network. Spence said the woman is probably a descendant of those
merchants.
After Spence
determined there was no recent foul play involved, the Registrar of Cemeteries
was contacted. They told Sauve she had to hire an archeologist to conduct an
assessment in her backyard — at her own expense.
Under
Ontario’s Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, property owners are
responsible for the costs of an archeological assessment if human remains are
found on their land.
Sauve, whose
final bill is for $5,000, has appealed to the mayor of Sarnia to pay the
archeologist. She’s steadfast in her belief that it doesn’t matter what level
of government steps in to pay, as long as she doesn’t have to.
“I did the
right thing by her . . . and this is what’s happening,” she said.
Sauve said she’s
heard that people from the nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation are raising money to
pay the bill, but they haven’t approached her directly. No one from the band
council office was available Friday to confirm those efforts.
Bob Bailey,
the MPP for the area, saw her story in the local newspaper and his staff did
some research into the couple’s predicament. He found out that Sauve can make a
request to the Registrar of Cemeteries to determine if paying for the
excavation would be considered an “undue financial burden.” The registrar will
then either reimburse her or pay the bill directly.
Bailey said he
has spoken to the minister of consumer services (the Funeral, Burial and
Cremation Services Act falls under her purview) and her staff, and intends to
make sure Sauve won’t have to pay.
Sauve
originally wanted to keep the skeleton of the woman — whom she named Sephira,
after her granddaughter — where she was, but found out her land would have to
be re-surveyed and another deed issued stating there’s a cemetery on the land.
She
reluctantly agreed to have the bones disinterred and reinterred at the cemetery
on the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. The woman is likely distantly related to the
residents of the reserve nearby.
They performed
a traditional ceremony at her house when they first found the bones, and then
again after they moved her. The cemetery has a space specially designated for
repatriated remains, where the skeleton now rests.
Sauve said
people have been telling her that if they end up in a similar situation, they
won’t alert authorities and risk having to fork over the cash to pay the bill.
“That is
awful,” she said. “God forbid you have a murder victim, and you cover them up.
Never will that person be brought home; never will their family have closure.”
Mark
Schadenberg
Sales
Representative
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas
St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519) 537-1553,
cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
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