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rfmcdonaldI first learned that a native group claimed Toronto's High Park to be the location of several First Nations burial grounds via this Torontoist article, where Mohawk activist Rastia'ta'non:ha claimed that the BMX bike riders who used an area of the park were riding over the graves of his people. This Torontoist article, where it came out that a City of Toronto archeological study found that the mounds were not burial mounds and that other native groups found Rastia'ta'non:ha and that Rastia'ta'non:ha himself justified his actions by saying that he knew that the graves were there regardless, changed the picture substantially.
Then, as reported in the Toronto Star, it was pointed out that the Iroquois weren't even present on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Rather, this area was home to the Huron. What do their representatives say?
The Iroquoian language group, to which both the Iroquois and the Huron belong, is a high-level language grouping that appears to be roughly as diverse as the Indo-European language family which includes languages as far removed as Gaelic and Bengali. In a very real sense, then, Rastia'ta'non:ha's claiming of the burial grounds as Iroquois is as sensible a thing as a German claim to Rome's Colosseum. It's an established fact that, before the time of contact, the Huron lived in the Toronto area.
What brings a terrible irony to all this is that the Huron were victims, in the mid-17th century, of what basically amounts to a genocide by the Iroquois: already suffering badly from Old World epidemic diseases, disputes over the fur trade with the Iroquois led to the destruction of the Huron nation, creating a thin diaspora stretching from Oklahoma to Québec and leading directly to the extinction of the Huron language. The Hurons have every right to be upset that an unrelated group, indeed a historical enemy, is claiming territory and (believed) relics that should belong to them. But, as noted, the Huron don't believe that.
Besides, as the Toronto Star article continues, the claims to burial mounds dating back several thousand years by any group present in the region of Toronto at the time of European contact are dubious.
In the New World as in the Old, history doesn't matter to ideologues: belief can endure anything.
Then, as reported in the Toronto Star, it was pointed out that the Iroquois weren't even present on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Rather, this area was home to the Huron. What do their representatives say?
David Donnelly, lawyer for the Huron-Wendat Nation, calls the notion of an Iroquoian burial site a “hoax.”
“This does real damage to the First Nations people trying to protect legitimate sites,” he said.
But Waters said stories of the pit burials were passed down orally, and now she is part of a group urging the city to protect what they call sacred mounds from BMX bikers.
Donnelly takes historical issue with that. “Firstly, Iroquoian people did not bury their dead in mounds.” he said.
“Second, Iroquoian people did not exist in southern Ontario 3,000 years ago, Thirdly, if you were to find a mass burial in the GTA, it could only be Huron-Wendat, and therefore only the Huron-Wendat nation is authorized to speak on its behalf about its position and what happens to it,” he said.
The Iroquoian language group, to which both the Iroquois and the Huron belong, is a high-level language grouping that appears to be roughly as diverse as the Indo-European language family which includes languages as far removed as Gaelic and Bengali. In a very real sense, then, Rastia'ta'non:ha's claiming of the burial grounds as Iroquois is as sensible a thing as a German claim to Rome's Colosseum. It's an established fact that, before the time of contact, the Huron lived in the Toronto area.
What brings a terrible irony to all this is that the Huron were victims, in the mid-17th century, of what basically amounts to a genocide by the Iroquois: already suffering badly from Old World epidemic diseases, disputes over the fur trade with the Iroquois led to the destruction of the Huron nation, creating a thin diaspora stretching from Oklahoma to Québec and leading directly to the extinction of the Huron language. The Hurons have every right to be upset that an unrelated group, indeed a historical enemy, is claiming territory and (believed) relics that should belong to them. But, as noted, the Huron don't believe that.
Besides, as the Toronto Star article continues, the claims to burial mounds dating back several thousand years by any group present in the region of Toronto at the time of European contact are dubious.
City spokeswoman Margaret Dougherty said a 2009 study determined the High Park bike site had no archeological significance or human remains. The Taiaiako’n Historical Preservation Society rejected that study.
Dougherty said other First Nations groups — the Huron-Wendat, the Six Nations of Grand River, Kawartha Nishnawbe, and the Mississauga of the New Credit — have written the city to say that Redwolf does not represent their interests or have the authority to speak or act on their behalf.
Ronald Williamson, an archeologist whose firm completed the 2009 study, said most archeologists believe that Iroquoian-speaking people first entered the Great Lakes region 2,000 years ago, likely with the arrival of corn.
Williamson said the Iroquois from New York state moved into the region in 1650, dispersing the Ontario Iroquoian-speaking groups. They were then forced out by the Ojibwe during the 1690s, and returned to inhabit the Grand River Valley in 1780 as a reward for their loyalty to the Crown during the American Revolution.
The time period Waters claims Iroquois burial mounds were created coincides with the time Algonquian-speaking bands were roaming through the Great Lakes region, Williamson said.
He said Algonquian-speaking groups did create burial mounds in the Peterborough area about 1,500 to 3,000 years ago, but “they’re quite different than natural hills that are formed when the glaciers retreated.”
In the New World as in the Old, history doesn't matter to ideologues: belief can endure anything.
