Who owns the
artifacts?
The answer to this question is ambiguous at best. The answer
differs somewhat depending on the landowner: the rules for federally owned
lands, such as national parks, and First Nations reserves are different from
those applying other lands in Ontario. The Ontario government does not assert
ownership of artifacts, but it does set out the laws governing the practice of
archaeology in the province. These state that:
1.
Only a licensed archaeologist may
collect or excavate artifacts in the province of Ontario.
2.
Under the terms of the licence, the
government charges the archaeologist with holding the artifacts in trust for
the people of Ontario.
3.
The archaeologist may place the
artifacts in a public institution, such as a museum, for safekeeping.
In other words, the licensed archaeologist is the only
person who may collect artifacts, but she or he does not own them. In fact, one
could say that every resident of Ontario owns them, but no single individual
does.
Does this mean
that I need to turn over the collection that my grandfather made in 1952?
No. While it would be great if it was donated to a museum,
the province is not attempting to recover old collections. It does mean that
you should not be adding to that collection.
Can anyone
dig?
Only those with an archaeological licence or people directly
supervised by someone with a professional or research archaeological license
may excavate.
What is the
penalty for digging without a license?
The Ontario
Heritage Act prohibits
anyone from disturbing or altering an archaeological site — whether on land or
under water — unless they hold a valid archaeological
licence issued
by the ministry. You may be disturbing an archaeological site, if you pick up
arrowheads in a farmer's field, grade an archaeological site with a bulldozer,
or take objects from a shipwreck.
Anyone who disturbs or alters an archaeological site or removes an
artifact from a site without a licence can be fined or imprisoned. A person or
a director of a corporation found in violation of the act or its regulations
can face a fine of up to $1,000,000 or imprisonment for up to one year or both.
A corporation found in violation of the act or the regulations can face a fine
of up to $250,000.
What happens
if we find a burial?
The Cemeteries
Act and the Funeral, Burial and Cremation
Services Act, when proclaimed
in force, requires anyone who uncovers a burial site containing human remains
to report the discovery to the appropriate authorities — the police or a
coroner. Likewise, archaeologists who encounter human remains during
archaeological fieldwork are required to comply with all relevant provisions of
the Cemeteries Act and Ontario Regulation 133/92 (Burial Sites) as part of the terms and conditions of their
archaeological licence.
If human remains are discovered during land development
activities, all construction and soil disturbance must stop immediately to
allow the authorities to investigate. All archaeological fieldwork must stop
until the coroner has had the opportunity to investigate and the Registrar of
Cemeteries has been consulted. The
Cemeteries Act requires that the descendants or representatives of those buried
at the site be consulted prior to any decision regarding final disposition of
the remains be made.
Who are the descendants of the people who once lived here?
The Huron/Wendat confederacy that consisted of
four or five confederated nations living between Nottawasaga Bay and Lake
Simcoe. They reported to have lived here some 200 to 300 years prior to the
first Europeans arriving in Huronia and were Iroquoian by culture and language
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