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The Reburial of the Human Remains of my 350 Year Old Ancestors by Francis Gros Louis, An Enrolled Member of the Huron-Wendat Indian Nation My eyes blurred from the salty tears running slowly down my cheeks. My hands trembled in anticipation of what I was about to do and my heart pounded as the realization of what I was about to participate in overwhelmed me. As the eerie funeral chant of the Huron people, “hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,” rippled softly through the roadside stand of stately pines I recall a mixed emotion of great sadness and yet extreme happiness as I bent to pick up one of the 300 cardboard file boxes containing the human remains of over 550 of my Huron Indian ancestors and carried them to what hopefully will be their final resting place. However, the emotional impact and historical significance of this once in a lifetime experience can never be understood without sketching a brief portrait of why I, and hundreds of Huron Indian descendants were in Midland, Ontario, Canada on August 29, 1999. Huronia, now know as Midland, Ontario was the home of my Huron ancestors in the early 1600s. Almost two dozen Huron-Wendat villages existed just north of Toronto, Canada near the Georgian Bay with Ossossane as it’s main village. In their own language the Huron-Wendat living there called the area Wendake, while the first Europeans visiting the area called it Huronia. Highly successful in the marketing of their furs and other products Huronia was a thriving business center for an estimated 35,000 Huron people between 1600 and 1649. The transport of furs, particularly beaver pelts, between Huronia and Quebec was a long and difficult trek but richly rewarded the people of Wendake as their reputation as skilled trappers and traders became known throughout the new world. Seeking to survive the total annihilation of the Huron Nation, about 300 of the remaining members including my own Gros Louis ancestors accompanied by members of the Sioui, Bastien, Vincent and Romain families made the long and arduous trek to Quebec where their descendants live today as the Huron-Wendat Nation of Wendake. The remainder of the disintegrating Huron Nation migrated south into Michigan where they reside today as the Anderdons of Michigan. Others migrated further south into Ohio and finally into Oklahoma and Kansas where their ancestors reside today as the Wyandottes of Oklahoma and the Wyandots of Kansas. Today only the Huron-Wendat of Wendake and the Wyandottes of Oklahoma have a land base and are recognized by their respective governments as Indian Nations. Some years ago a young boy, Michel Gros Louis, visited the Royal Ontario Museum with his father and learned of the burial of his ancestors in Huronia in 1636 and their excavation by archaeologists in 1948. He never forgot how astounded he was to hear that the remains of his ancestors were still being held in the museum for study and vowed one day to return his ancestors to their original burial grounds of Ossossane. As he got older he studied everything he could about his people and their fate in Ossossane in the 1600s including their cultural belief in the Feast of the Dead. It was the Huron-Wendat custom of the time to inter their dead temporarily on scaffolds, rarely ever burying their deceased below groung. Every ten to fifteen years the beaver skin wrapped bodies were taken from their scaffolds and reburied in a mass grave during a ceremony known as the Feast of the Dead. Among the Huron-Wendat people it was believed that the soul only took flight after the great ceremony. Historical evidence of the importance Huron people placed in honoring their deceased was recorded by Jean de Brébeuf, a famous Jesuit Missionary who arrived in Huronia in 1626 and later was captured by the Iroquois Confederacy and put to death in 1649. He was Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930. In his brief writings Brebeuf noted of his attendance at a Feast of the Dead and the mass burial of hundreds of Huron-Wendat people at Ossossane in 1636. He marked the site with a crude wooden cross and it was later discovered by archeologists in 1948 leading them to the excavation of over 500 Huron-Wendat human remains and taken to the Royal Ontario Musuem in Toronto, Canada. Although his first request for the return of his ancestor’s remains was denied, Michel Gros Louis persisted and working with a dedicated associate, Annette Vincent through the Agondachia Association he finally obtained an agreement with the officials at the Royal Ontario Museum to return the human remains for reburial in 1999. The Agondachia Association is dedicated to the preservation of the Huron-Wendat culture, traditions, and heritage of all Huron-Wendat people. The Huron-Wendat Nation Gathering and reburial ceremonies was scheduled for the weekend of August 27-29, 1999, in Midland, Ontario some 350 years after the original burial of their ancestors in the Ossossane Burial Pit. No one can comprehend what compelled so many Huron-Wendat descendants from all over the United States and Canada to attend the reburial ceremonies fo their ancestors. For many it was a severe financial hardship and yet they felt an inner power that compelled them to attend. And perhaps no one will ever know what brought about this magnificent moment in Huron-Wendat history 350 years after the ofiginal burial and 50 years after they were excavated by archeologists in the name of research. This writer felt an overwhelming urge to attend and be a part of this moment, and yet has no explanation for this feeling only having visited the Huron-Wendat village at Wendake, Quebec once in his lifetime. The unexplainable, strange force was relentless in filling this writer with thoughts of simply having to attend. Sunday , August 29, 1999 began with the Ceremony of the Rising Sun at Sainte-Marie Park. It was a dark, very chilly morning as many Huron-Wendat descendants gathered for the 5:00 AM ceremony. A wide circle was formed around a small fire for the blessing of the sacred fire and offerings of prayers for the ancestors who were coming home on this day. Following prayers and tributes in French, English, and the Huron-Wendat language, those in the circle stepped forward to place fir boughs on the fire, offer comments and observations of how the Gathering was impacting upon their lives and greeting each other in the circle thereby creating a lifelong bond among new friends. A group of volunteers had agreed to transport the sacred ashes to the reburial site at Ossossane following the ceremony and remained with the ashes until all had left the park. Sunlight was just starting to make shadows in the dusk as the descendants returned to Native Friendship Hall for a huge breakfast and further exchanges of emotions. It was clearly evident that tension was rising as the descendants discussed the reburial to take place later in the morning. Located approximately fifteen minutes from Huronia (Midland, Ontario), the actual reburial site was located about 300 yards from a paved road amidst meadows of small pine and fir trees. A large wooden sign at the roadside indicated the site was the Osssosane Bonepit, the site where the remains of many Huron people were buried in 1636. Continuing, the sign noted, “Huron Indians gave temporary burial usually on above ground scaffolds to the dead. Later, the bodies were reburied with great ceremonies in a communal pit.” A very narrow, pine needle strewn path set among towering pine trees stretched for approximately 200 feet to a gate and fence which provided a barrier to the original burial site some 300 yards into the grassy, pine and fir dotted meadow. A large gathering of descendants including tribal leaders from the Huron-Wendat of Wendake, Wyandottes of Oklahoma, Wyandots of Kansas, and Andersons of Michigan were joined by many curious onlookers as all stood in muffled silence waiting for the arrival of the human remains from the Royal Ontario Museum. Those attending honored the request for no photographs during the reburial ceremonies and no still or video cameras were observed. Waiting time was spent with whispered talk and an obvious high level of anxiety as the descendants waited for the first view of the human remains of their respective families. Ceremonial regalia including feathered headdresses, ribbon bedecked shirts, buckskins, and fine jewelry could be seen everywhere and the building tension in the air was suffocating. Fourth in line I waited my turn. As my turn came I felt totally traumatized as I walked up the steel ramp into the truck and stared down at the box before me. I know that my eyes glistened and blurred with slowly forming tears and my heart beat faster as I stooped to pick up the first of many boxes I carried. Much to my surprise the box was relatively light. At the time I did no realize that the human remains had been sorted by various body parts thereby making some of the boxes beavier and some containing the human remains of children lighter. As I started to walk down the steel ramp past the descendants and onlookers I began to hear the subdued chanting of the Huron funeral dirge as those carrying and those watching began the steady, « hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi » as a drum beat softly in the background amidst the sound of a few rattles. My feet were moving towards the reburial site but I recall little of the many trips I made accompanied by the rhythmic cadence of the chanting and the beat of the drum. rEaching the reburial site each box and person carryingit were again blessed with the smoke of the traditional sweetgrass. A huge tent covered an area on one side of the reburial pit as descendants stacked up the boxes of human remains much in the same manner they had been stacked in the Royal Ontario Museum truck. As I walked back and forth carrying box after box of human remains my mind cleared and I tried to comprehend my emotional feelings and the thought that perhaps I was carrying the human remains of my own Gros Louis ancestors who had been buried at this site some 350 years ago. The mere thought sent a chill up my spine on the rather warm August day. A human chain was formed from the stacks of cardboard boxes to the bottom of the pit and the descendants watched quietly as four selected members of the Huron-Wendat of Wendake who had spent the previous day in a Sweat Lodge gaining absolute spiritual cleansing began to line the bottom of the pit with the traditional beaver pelts. As each box was passed from hand to hand to the bottom of the pit each was given a final blessing and farewell by the Gathering’s oldest attendee, the 90 year old aunt of Michel Gros Louis, Madame Madeline Gros Louis, who made the trip from Wendake via bus simply to be a part of these historic ceremonies. She gave each box three taps on the lid as if to say to each ancestor, « welcome home ! » Absolute silence fell over the gathering as the opening of the first box of human remains almost emotionally overwhelmed the three Huron-Wendat in the bottom of the reburial pit as they gently tipped the box and emptied out the first group of human bones. Some were grayish and some appeared to be yellowed with age as box after box was emptied containing human skulls, ribs, leg and arm bones, the skulls of small children and a very few artifacts that had not been stolen by those doing the excavation or during the fifty years of examination and study. Placed in a large circle atop the beaver pelts it took almost three hours to empty the 300 cardboard file boxes creating a circle of human remains almost six feet in depth. The impact upon those watching was noticeable as some watched briefly and left, others watched and gasped when the first skulls were deposited on the sacred circle, and others appeared to be in some form of a trance as they softly continued to chant the « hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi,hi ! » After the final box as emptied prayers were conducted at the site by an Elder and a final blessing was given to the human remains of the 500 plus Huron-Wendat ancestors. As the crowd began to leave the site a few selected members began to use shovels to cover the human remains with a thin layer of sand for the night prior to the pit being completely filled in by machine in the morning. An Honor Guard of descendants remained with the ancestors through the night to ensure the sanctity of the site and the possibility of any type of disturbance of the area before it could be sealed. On Monday morning, August 30, 1999 a small group of Huron-Wendat of Wendake and several other descendants met at the site to offer final prayers and best wishes to their ancestors as they watched the burial pit being completely filled in and graded over. It was the conclusion of a highly emotional weekend ceremony that will never be forgotten by any who attended. On October 18, 1999 the Huron-Wendat Nation by vote and the Council of the Huron-Wendat Nation adopted a Resolution accepting the offer of the Royal Ontario Museum to assume responsibility for the sacred burial site at Ossossane. This will ensure the maintenance of this sacred site forever and is the seed through which the Huron-Wendat people of Wendake may one day have a permanent Gathering site in Midland, Ontario, known always by the Huron-Wendat people as Wendake (Huronia). This writer is aware that some museums and some Universities have returned the human remains of our ancestors to their families and Tribes for proper reburial, however many more continue to be held in body bags and file boxes, some for over one hundred years. As we enter the new millennium there does not appear to be any reasonable explanation of why the remains of Indian people should still be in body bags and file boxes in museums, Universities, and warehouse. There is absolutely no justification for treating the human remains, burial offerings, and property of our Indian people any differently than those of any other society in the 1990s. What a wonderful way it would be to enter the new millennium, the year 2000, free from the blatant injustice to a proud people whose ancestors have been too long considered anything less than equal members of the human race. What a wonderful expression of a new day it would be for all museums, Universities, and other holding institutions to return all their human remains of Indian people for proper reburial in the new year 2000 ! No person could ever have my once in a lifetime experience without feeling some level of resentment towards those who see no harm in the continuing practice of keeping the human remains of Indian people in body bags or file boxes in the name of research. I truly believed as I carried the boxes of human remains of my ancestors and participated in this historic reburial ceremony that I sensed very strongly my ancestors telling me, « thank you for finally briging us home ! ». End ! |
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Over the centuries, a double standard regarding the treatment of human graves developed. Disturbance of white dead was regarded with horror, and laws strictly protected white graves. But indian graves were dug up freely in the name of science. In Huronia ( original wendat homeland ) , there are many wendat historical sites. The following text , from " Recollections --Township of Tiny ", describes the Ossuary of Ossossane and the Dead feast among the Wendat. In the last one hundred years, more that 200 Ossuaries were disturbed and destroyed by the settlers and archaeologists. THE HURON OSSUARY OF OSSOSSANE. 
One of the most visible
artifacts left in the Township of Tiny by the Hurons is the Ossuray
or " Bonepit " at Ossossane.
The finding of this Ossuary
in Tiny must be credited to the indefatigable efforts of Frank
Ridley, a keen student of Indian archaelogy.
Ridley began by tracing the
eight miles of the Great Huron Trail, leading from what is now cedar
Point, south toward the Petun Country. On his way, he undertook the
task of locating the Huron Village of Ossossane and experienced no
great difficulty in this. The site was located on the promontory in
the South half of lot 17, Concession 6.
The Jesuit priest, Jean de
Brébeuf, had recorded that he had been present at a great
"Feast of the Dead" held near the Village. It was calculated by the
Jesuit Seminary in Toronto that the ceremony took place at Pentecost,
May 11, 1636.
The Huron burial practice
involved placement of the body upon a scaffold supported by four
upright poles. At regular intervals of time the skeletons were
collected from the scaffolds and buried in a large pit dug for the
purpose. This method of burial is confirmed by the fact that small
bones of the body - which could be blown from the scaffold or removed
by scavenger animals or birds - were not normally found in the burial
pits. Large bones of the body could be found arranged in convenient
sized bundles; again confirming the fact that the bones were
relocated to the pits.
Frank Ridley finally
discovered the site of the Ossuary about one mile south and one and
one-half miles south est of Ossossane. It lies on the farm owned by
Charles D'Aoust on the north half of Lot 14, Concession 7.
The Huron custom was to
bring all their dead here at certain periods, usually about 10 or 12
years apart. It is believed some eight to ten villages attended the
Ossossane ceremony and the number of skeletons has been estimated at
approximately 1,000.
The Ossuary was found to be
bowl-shaped with a flat bottom and approximately 24 feet from rim to
rim. The mass of bone was found to be about five to six feet deep.
The pit had been lined with fur robes, made from beaver pelts turned
in over the top of the pit's contents. As was their custom, the
Hurons buried along with the bones various ornaments, tools,
bowls,and items to be used by the Bear Clan who lived in what is
today the Township of Tiny.
The presence of this Ossuary is indicated by a sign erected on County Road 6 at a location
almost directly east of the actual site.
OSSOSSANE BONE PIT ( written on the sign) Huron Indians gave temporary burial to the dead. Later, the bodies were exhumed and the bones reburied with great ceremonies in a communal pit. Father J. Brébeuf witnessed a mass burial of over 1000 individuals near the Huron village of Ossossane in 1636. Long sought, this pit was located by the archaeological researches of F. Ridley, Royal Ont. Museum excavations found the contents as described by Brébeuf. The pit lies in the field 250 yards behind this marker. Library references; Brébeuf u3l, Ridley 1947, Kidd 1953. |
