Saugeen Shores places stop work order on demolition work at archaeological site

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Saugeen Shores has placed a stop work order on what it says is an unauthorized building demolition at an Anishinaabe archaeological site north of the mouth of the Saugeen River in Southampton.

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The stop work order was issued by the town earlier this month at the Ne’bwaakah Giizwed Ziibi site at 6 Rankin St., which has been registered as an archaeological site since the 1950s with Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

The town said in a news release that on Nov. 9., a concerned resident contacted the municipal offices to report the unauthorized demolition at the site. Chief building official Josh Planz immediately went to the site and verbally issued a stop work order to the contractor, who did not have a town-issued demolition permit.

“Aware of the site’s significance to Ojibway Indigenous heritage, Planz called the offices of Saugeen First Nation and informed them of the unauthorized demolition,” the news release said. “Planz then returned to the site and posted a Stop Work Order.”

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On Nov. 22, Saugeen First Nation Chief Conrad Ritchie issued a letter to band members updating them about the situation at the site after the demolition work began.

“The Saugeen Ojibway Nation’s archaeology manager (Rob Martin) immediately coordinated with the Town to ensure a stop work order was issued to immediately stop the demolition work,” Ritchie wrote. “Since then, we as Chief and Council have been taking steps to ensure immediate protection of the site.”

Ritchie said steps were taken to remove heavy demolition equipment that drove over some of the confirmed areas with high density of archeological artifacts, “potentially compacting those fragile materials and creating damage under the soil surface.”

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The local First Nations have long known that there were once Indigenous peoples at the mouth of the river.

Several years ago, work crews running sewers to homes on the north side of the river came across artifacts and work was suspended until the site could be properly excavated. In 2010, an agreement was signed between Saugeen Shores and the First Nations about how the project could affect Aboriginal interests, including archaeological concerns. It also included an archaeology protocol to deal with any areas where an Aboriginal cultural or burial site was encountered.

In the spring of 2011, excavation of the site commenced under the direction of archaeologist Bill Fitzgerald and on the first day of work artifacts began to be discovered. That summer an estimated 100,000 artifacts were discovered, including broken pottery, food remnants, animal bones and stone tools, as well as spent flint, coloured glass beads and silver rings that showed up after contact with Europeans.

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The earth was screened revealing articles from the 16^th and 17^th century, and as they dug deeper different items were found, some dating back to AD 890 and many more that were more than 2,000 years old, the archaeologist said at the time.

At the same time, an exhibition called the River Mouth Speaks featuring a small number of the items opened at the Bruce County museum and cultural centre.

In his letter, Ritchie said he and council are pursuing all avenues with the town, the province and the owner to ensure the short-term protection of the site, to deal with the incomplete demolition, and to ensure there are longer term plans so that the site is permanently protected.

The release from the Town of Saugeen Shores said that while enforcement of archaeological sites is provincial jurisdiction, it is aware of the site’s importance to their Indigenous neighbours, “who have had a presence there for millennia.”

“The town is committed to supporting SFN, the Ministry and the property owner in the preservation of this historical and culturally significant area and we will assist in the process in any way we can,” the release said. “The town will not issue any further work permits for the site until further notice.”

— with Sun Times files