In Ontario’s North, An Indigenous Community Digs Into Its History - University of Toronto Magazine
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Allen Toulouse, wearing rubber boots, stands on the rocky shore of a still lake
Sagamok Anishnawbek historical researcher Allen Toulouse. All photos by Nick Iwanyshyn
Culture & Society

In Ontario’s North, An Indigenous Community Digs Into Its History

U of T archaeologists are working with Sagamok Anishnawbek to learn more about thousands of ancient objects discovered along the shore of Lake Huron Read More

The white quartzite mountains that run along the north shore of Lake Huron provide a stunning backdrop to the ancestral lands of Sagamok Anishnawbek.

Here, since time immemorial, the Anishnawbek lived by fishing, hunting and gathering. They crafted tools from stone and pots from clay, and traded with neighbouring communities and more distant groups from the south. This way of life continued until the arrival of the Europeans, with the establishment of the Fort La Cloche trading post in the late 1700s and the contemporary reserve of Sagamok Anishnawbek almost a century later.

Archaeological investigations at the site in the 1960s and 1970s unearthed centuries-old artifacts from the operation of Fort La Cloche – and some, much older, from the ancestors of the Anishnawbek. While members of Sagamok Anishnawbek assisted in the excavations conducted by provincial archaeologists, they had no control over the recovered objects.

Fast forward 50-plus years, to 2019. Alicia Hawkins, an associate professor of anthropology at U of T Mississauga, and Sarah Hazell, an archaeologist and member of the Nipissing First Nation, began collaborating with Naomi Recollet, the collections manager at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation on Manitoulin Island, to provide archaeological training to members of nearby Indigenous communities.

An Indigenous cultural centre that supports several First Nations along the north shore, the foundation had been caring for the objects recovered from the La Cloche site for the Ontario government since 2015. But it was difficult for community members to interact with the ancestral belongings because no catalogue existed. That sparked an idea: what if Hawkins and Hazell worked together with the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, Sagamok Anishnawbek and local Indigenous communities to identify the artifacts and ancestors’ belongings, and add to the existing knowledge of the area?

The group connected with Allen Toulouse, a historical researcher for Sagamok Anishnawbek, who embraced the opportunity to uncover more about the history of the Anishnawbek people, and, potentially, to change how students across Canada learn about Indigenous culture. “I can sum up Anishnawbe history as I was taught in high school in two sentences,” he says. “They were hunter-gatherers. They lived in birchbark wigwams. That was it.”

Toulouse also saw a chance to help correct a historical wrong, in which Indigenous peoples had little say over archaeological investigations on their own land. “This was a long-standing question in the community: what happened to our artifacts?” he said. “We were excluded from the whole process.” Hawkins, who specializes in community-based archeology, says support is growing to return ancestral belongings to Indigenous communities.

“It’s about time,” she says. “As a non-Indigenous archaeologist, my role, if I have one at all, should be to support communities to manage their heritage in a way that is most appropriate for them.” Hawkins adds that it costs money to care for these items in perpetuity. So, giving them back to First Nations without adequate resources is not a solution. “We need to be supporting communities to look after ancestral belongings, but at the same time not burdening them.”

As Hawkins and Hazell (now a PhD student in anthropology at U of T), have worked side by side with Indigenous community members to identify objects, they’ve found that knowledge travels in both directions: the academics are learning more about Sagamok history and culture, and the community members are deepening their knowledge of archaeological practices.

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View of a waterfall, rocky outcrops and trees surrounding La Cloche River
For Allen Toulouse, a historical researcher for Sagamok Anishnawbek, the First Nation’s ancestral lands around La Cloche on the north shore of Lake Huron run deep with history and are among the most beautiful in the world. “We’ve always told the story of how we’re connected to this site,” he says.
Indigenous archivist Naomi Recollet is taking out a white cardboard box from one of many shelves containing boxes of artifacts
Naomi Recollet, the collections manager at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation on Manitoulin Island, has helped care for more than 40 boxes of artifacts unearthed at La Cloche a half-century ago. The boxes are labeled by site and material and contain a seemingly random set of objects. “Every time I opened one, it was an overwhelming feeling,” says Recollet. “As if someone dumped their kitchen drawer into a box.”
Artifact cataloguing participants seated around tables, looking at artifacts from cardboard boxes placed on top of tables
U of T researchers are providing archaeological training to members of the local Indigenous communities so the artifacts can be properly identified and catalogued. “The project gives community members the chance to learn and be exposed to methodologies they would not otherwise experience,” says Recollet. The researchers, meanwhile, are learning from the community members about Sagamok history and culture.
Professor Alicia Hawkins stands over a table, holding up a piece of artifact and examining it with Lucia O'Connor sitting beside her.
Here, Alicia Hawkins, an associate professor of anthropology at U of T Mississauga, works with Lucia O’Connor in an archaeological session at M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island.
A researcher holding an old black and white photo of a large house and the surrounding lands.
Among the more than 50,000 artifacts are old black and white photos of Fort La Cloche, established along the fur trade route around 1790 by the North West Company. This one shows the La Cloche building.
A person holding and pointing to an area on a map of the excavation site
A map of the excavation site from 1975, created by archaeologists, shows a schematic of building locations and areas of excavation. It helps workshop participants understand where the different cultural belongings came from at this complex site.
Close-up shot of Zoie PichZ holding up and examining a bone
Zoie Piché, an archaeological technician from Mississaugi First Nation, holds up the vertebra of a large hoofed mammal.
Close-up of an old eroded key resting on the palm of someone's hand
A key, possibly for locking cabinets or furniture, from when fur trading occurred at the site.
Bird's eye view of a cardboard box containing a jawbone and a labelled plastic bottle
Jawbone of a bear, probably also from the fur-trade period at La Cloche.
Fragments of what appears to be a stone-like artifact labelled with the number 205
Chips of fine-grained stone known as chert. This is debris from making stone tools and, based on the location and association with other cultural belongings, are probably about 2,000 years old.
Bird's eye view of six small cardboard boxes. Written on them are the location and other data of the artifacts contained within.
These small boxes contain shards of Indigenous pottery, probably made about 600 years ago. After cataloguing, the small boxes are placed in larger boxes containing other belongings from the east side of the site that are about the same age.

Sheila Madahbee, from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, is one of the community members assisting with the project. Among the rocks, glass and pieces of rusted metal that have been collected, she sometimes finds clothing, arrowheads – even parts of a harmonica. “Today we were looking at leather pieces of shoes,” she says, observing they were made for tiny feet, almost certainly a child’s, causing her to wonder about the maker and recipient, and their lives.

It’s not always easy to distinguish who left which objects behind: next to the clay pipes and musical instruments used by 18th-century fur traders might be a 2,000-year-old hide-scraper. Madahbee likens cataloguing to fitting together the pieces of a puzzle that, when complete, will add to the story of the Sagamok people, told in their own words.

Hazell hopes the archaeological training will help Madahbee and others working on the project find a connection with their ancestors in a physical and spiritual way. Previously, to have that opportunity, she says, “they would have to go to a museum and see the artifacts behind glass, and not be allowed to touch them, or sing to them.” Now, Recollet at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation enables Indigenous community members to care for the pieces according to their cultural traditions.

Toulouse says that while Sagamok have always been connected to the area and have shared their history through spoken word, the artifacts physically prove they lived on the land thousands of years ago, strengthening their claim to it.

He adds that he hopes the project will help expand Sagamok’s historical record and help rebuild lost pride. “The important part of this, especially for Indigenous peoples, is taking an interest in our past.”

This project is supported by Connaught Community Partnership Research Funding

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  1. No Responses to “ In Ontario’s North, An Indigenous Community Digs Into Its History ”

  2. Charlotte Hosking Springall says:

    I was a junior forest ranger at Fort La Cloche in the summer of 1976 when I was 17. I remember two archaeologists who came to the camp. They found lots of artifacts and I got to help them. I had a great time!

  3. William Ross says:

    Nice article!

  4. A M Solomon says:

    Great gratitude for the collaboration, the training and open access to ancient artifacts that belong to our Anishinawbek. This Sagamok community was the home community to my Mother-baa.

  5. Sam Beckett says:

    In the early 1970s, my archaeologist friend John Prideaux worked for the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and worked extensively in the Serpent Mounds area, not far from Peterborough, Ontario. Boxes of artifacts were sent back to the ROM and I assume they are still sitting in boxes somewhere.

  6. theresa a. ferguson says:

    I've always been impressed by the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation's projects, and since I graduated in "arky" (archaeology) from U of T (back in the mists of time), I'm delighted to see this important collaboration.