2011 a look back

OAS Huronia Chapter - 2011 a look back 

Financial Post letter re waste plant near Ste. Marie and Shrine

letter to the editor Financial Post by Richard Greene, professor, Department of English, University of Toronto...holy site needs protection from recyclung plant. see http://www.financialpost.com/todays-paper/Holy+ground+Canadians/5747382/story.html

The Word is Spreading - see National Post

Waste site plans disturb English Canada’s most visited Catholic shrine

Darren Calabrese/National Post

Saint-Marie among the Hurons historical interpreter Larry Ford lights candles in the holy site Church of St. Joseph at the reconstructed Jesuit mission in Midland, Ont. Thursday, November 17, 2011.

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Charles Lewis  Nov 21, 2011 – 7:56 AM ET

MIDLAND, ONT. — The tens of thousands of pilgrims who make their way to English Canada’s most visited Catholic shrine and holy site could soon have their sense of being on sacred ground shattered by the sound of trucks dumping industrial waste material less than 600 feet away.

The proposed recycling facility would be on the west bank of the Wye River directly across from Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, which is a replica of a French Jesuit mission that lasted 10 years in the early 17th century. While not all visitors come for religious reasons, the village of 30 buildings sits on Jesuit land and includes a key holy site where two French Jesuit priests, later made saints, were buried in 1649.

So just what are people searching for when they come to this blog?

Below are the keyword search words that have brought people to this blog. As we can see from our stats most people know that we exits and search by name (they should probably just bookmark the page). Others are looking for info on people while still others are looking for info on specific villages, Huron pottery and such.

Shrine, Sainte-Marie marshal forces in bid to stop recycling plant

Midland Free Press By DOUGLAS GLYNN

Two of Huronia's major tourist attractions are escalating their campaign to stop construction of a recycling facility on their doorstep.

The Martyrs' Shrine and Sainte-Marie Among the Huron -with the backing of the Jesuits in English Canada -have turned to social media to mobilize public opposition to the facility.

They have created a Facebook page containing a form letter people can sign. The page urges people to join a protest march from the Shrine to Midland town hall on Nov. 30 to deliver the letters.

"Don't spoil the tranquillity and peaceful surroundings of these sites with a noisy and ugly plant -relocate it to a more suitable place in Midland," the form letter urges.

Are there any sites under threat here?

I have been given notice of an OMB Prehearing regarding a housing development on Pt Lot 23 Con 4 Township of Tiny. (NE corner of Con 4 Rd and; Tiny Beaches Road South.) - 44deg.36min.51.4sec.W X 79deg.59min.02.2sec.N If my GPS is at all accurate you migh be able to find it on Google Earth.

So what does the archaeological record say?

As some of you may know that the Huronia Museum in Midland is planning to rebuild the replicated Huron/Wendat village that was partially lost in a fire in May of 2007. The question has arisen as to the what type of palisade was most common on the village sites in classic Huronia.

Nov. 30 Protest March re: proposed industrial site near Ste. Marie and Martyrs Shrine

posted by Tony Peach on the Martyrs' Shrine facebook page:

"come to the shrine on nov 30th at noon and walk to the town hall in midland as a demonstration ,to oppose this proposed recycling centre which is going to ruin the peace and tranquility of the shrine and st marie,both canadian historical sites.we need as many people as possible ,so please give up some time and lets let midland councilors know how people feel about this proposterous idea.see you there.thanks."

Who Knew?

Below is a post I put on this blog in April of this year - this was the notice regarding the lot where the ossuary was found last week. I was glad to learn that no other archaeologist knew of this site either. it is now in my database.
" I have been notified by the Township of Severn of a pubic meeting take place at the township office April 21st 2011 regarding a proposal for a new 137 lot subdivision on lots 5 and; 6 Con 11, Severn Township (old North Orillia twp).
My database does not show any archaeological sites on these lots. Should anyone have any information regarding sites on these lots please let me know or contact the township directly.
(David Parks, Director of Planning & Development, 705 325-2315 - email- dparks@townshipofsevern.com"

Pedestrian Bridge over the Narrows

Robert Browne and I attended a public information session in Orillia on November 9th to view the presentation from Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc. regarding their conceptual plan for this project. Within this plan is an interpretive centre that was originally planed to interpret the 5000 + year history of the fish weirs at the Narrows. Robert and I have attended a few meets now and suggested that the interpretive centre could also be used to interpret the more recent history of Champlain's visit to the Narrows. After all he was probably the second European to view the fish weirs and the first to record their use by the First Nations present at the time.

Wye River at Hwy 12 - proposed recycling plant

I added information labels to my photo of this aerial photo that was displayed at the November 10th information session held at Ste. Marie organized by the Jesuits in English Canada (Martyrs' Shrine).  The LOT refers to the location of the proposed recycling plant which likely is to handle construction waste materials including metal materials.

image of outdoor recycling plant

- Bill Gibson -

what is construction waste recycling

FYI the proposed recycling facility proposed for near the west bank of the Wye River near Ste. Marie Among the Hurons and Martyrs' Shrine is for construction waste recycling. This is a term I am not terribly familiar with.  The following link sheds some light on the term:  link

Nov. 10th 11:30 AM Jesuits in English Canada info session re: Industrial site proposed near Ste. Marie Among the Hurons

,Midland Town Council is considering approval of an  industrial  development, a recycling plant, near to the location of Martyrs' Shrine and Ste. Marie Among the Hurons on the west side of the Wye River.

I quote from an email I received about an information session from the Jesuits in English Canada about this proposed development.

Orillia Packet Times - Huron remains identified

Remains identified as Huron

By MIRANDA MINASSIAN, Orillia Packet Times

The aboriginal remains found in Cumberland Beach have been identified as Huron, says the leader of Rama First Nation.

"We are given to understand that they are of Huron descent," Chief Sharon Stinson Henry said Monday.

"The ministry has taken charge and will be notifying the Huron leaders."

 The remains of several aboriginal people were discovered Wednesday morning during the servicing of the West Shore Beach Club at the corner of Turnbull Drive and Third Avenue, on the former Bramshott Farm in Severn Township.

As the nearest First Nation to the burial, Rama First Nation was notified of the discovery.

"We, of course, offered to work co-operatively with the Huron," Stinson Henry said.

Orilllia Museum moving to library? Orillia Packet Times

Museum moving to library?

By SARA ROSS, Orillia Packet Times

The Orillia Museum of Art and History (OMAH) could be moving into the new Orillia Public Library.

"Given the space needs of OMAH, and the space available at the library building, moving OMAH to the new building appears to be a reasonable solution in the short to intermediate term if OMAH is amenable to such a move," states a staff report.

On June, 27 council requested a staff report dealing with the optimization of city-owned building assets.

This report will be discussed by council committee Monday night.

The report recommends, "council consider recommending locations for the Orillia Museum of Art and History other than the Sir Sam Steele building."

It also recommends that "council considers uses for the library building space which would be complementary to the primary library use."

It suggests OMAH will be able to increase programming and in turn increase museum revenue if it moves to the library.

At some point in the future as Orillia grows, a long-term solution will need to be developed for OMAH, the report adds.

If OMAH moves into the library, the Sir Sam Steele building, a heritage-designated building, could be sold, it states.

The report says Orillia will receive approximately $630,500 from the sale.

Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton will be making an announcement at OMAH on Wednesday. The details of this announcement will not be made public until then.

OMAH has applied for a Canada Cultural Spaces Fund grant that will allow it to expand the museum to the unused upper levels. The museum has also applied for a $50,000 Enabling Accessibility Fund grant for an elevator.

The space optimization report examined eight city-owned properties.

Staff also recommend selling 150 Front St. S., the former CN Station currently used by the Chamber of Commerce and licence bureau.

The Mount Slaven School property could also be surplused and sold, the report states.

Martyrs’ Shrine - looking for support - Thursday November 10th

The industrial site that is of concern here is within sight of the Shrine and across the river from Ste. Marie yet no archaeological assessment was requested by the Town of Midland. There are at least 3 Bordenized sites within a km of this property along with a number of other recorded sites including a Metis town-site and some burials.

Martyrs’ Shrine

The National Shrine of the Canadian Martyrs

Some interesting developments in Orillia.

Ossuary won’t halt plans: developer

By MIRANDA MINASSIAN

Updated 1 day ago

The discovery of First Nation remains, believed to be hundreds of years old, won't stop developers from moving forward with a multi-million dollar gated community in Cumberland Beach.

Summerhill Homes plans to go ahead building the 78-unit West Shore Beach Club once the remains are dealt with according to the law, said the developer in charge of the project.

"We are absolutely continuing on; we just have to hold off," developer Brian Ellis said. "Out of respect, you have to make sure the (authorities) come and certify that the area is cleaned up.

"These (bones) are like hundreds and hundreds of years old," he added. "You always have to follow policy with that kind of stuff. You don't fool around with that kind of thing."

The remains were discovered in Severn Township Wednesday morning during site preparation for the project, located at the corner of Turnbull Drive and Third Avenue, on the former Bramshott Farm.

An investigation is currently being conducted with Michael D'Mello, a registrar from the Ministry of Consumer Service, Cemeteries Regulation Unit, and archeologists, hired by Summerhill, who are looking to determine the origin and extent of the burial.

"The site appears to be an ossuary containing several aboriginal remains. The registrar has notified the appropriate First Nations communities of the discovery," Sue Carroll, spokesperson for the ministry, wrote in an email to The Packet Friday.

She could not confirm which First Nation the remains belonged to.

While Summerhill currently has pre-servicing draft approval for their project, the final OK to start developing the homes won't be given until the proper authorities sign off on how the remains are dealt with, said David Parks, Severn's director of planning.

"We are here to make sure that the regulations of the Cemeteries Act are followed to the tee," Parks said. "That may include altering their original plans."

Once the archeologist determines the origin and extent of the burial site, the First Nations representatives and the land owner must come to an agreement about final disposition of the site and the remains, as outlined in the Cemeteries Act.

"The site may be established as a cemetery or the remains may be re-interred in an existing cemetery, in accordance with the decisions made in the Site Disposition Agreement by the parties involved," wrote Carroll.

More than $3 million has been invested by Summerhill, in land purchase and plan developments, to date, Parks estimated, with tens of millions more planned in investment.

"It is not unusual, if you check history of development, you'll find that (finding remains) happens all the time," said Ellis. "That is actually quite normal in the Muskoka or Orillia area. It is not unusual at all."

mminassian@orilliapacket.com

Recogntion for Charles Garrad

Archeologist honoured by Wyandotte

By QMI AGENCY                                                                 

Posted 3 hours ago

A recent trip to the United States to deliver a speech ended with an unexpected honour for a local archeologist.

Charles Garrad was named 2011 Honoured Person by the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma and Wyandotte Nation of Kansas -- native people who originated in the Blue Mountains and were once known as the Petun.
Garrad has spent a big part of his life researching the Petun, who lived in this area and are the ancestors of the Oklahoma and Kansas Wyandotte nations. Garrad initiated the archeological searches in The Blue Mountains that uncovered village settlements and life history of the gentle Petun dating back 4,000 years. The Petun left the area and dispersed after being nearly wiped out by the Iroquois, ending up as the Wyandotte in Kansas and Oklahoma.
Garrad recently published a book on his life's research.
Garrad's wife Ella says he has given his life to this project, which he started documenting on an old manual typewriter many years ago, eventually updating it on a computer -- which helped in bringing the information together for the 700- page book.
On Sept. 1, the couple traveled to the States with plans to visit Wyandotte friends and family members who have adopted and welcomed him over the years. During the 10-day visit, the Garrads planned to visit the Kansas City Cemetery, deliver the talk on Garrad's research, and attend a Pow Wow in Kansas City.
In Kansas he was surprised to see that a write-up and map he had submitted has been cast in bronze plaques at the Kansas City Cemetery telling the story of the Wyandotte.
At his lecture, he was presented with a plaque naming him Honoured Person 2011 -'For the many Years of Dedication to Preserve, Educate and Protection of All Wyandotte Ancestors in the Homeland'. The presentation was made by Chief Billy Friend and Second Chief Norman Hildebrant.