LAKE HELEN – As roughly 200 Red Rock Indian Band members and allies walked from Gas Road to the Nipigon Bridge on Monday, the words on a picket sign put their sentiment succinctly: “Give us back our people!”
The First Nation north of Nipigon has been at loggerheads with Parks Canada since the 600-year-old remains of four Anishinaabek ancestors were found at a site where parks officials to build a visitor centre.
The remains have been treated with indignity and nearly 60 dug-up loads of earth have been moved from the excavation site to unknown locations, according to the First Nation.
It’s clear that Parks Canada did not have an archaeologist on site during excavation and did not follow their own rules for excavation, Red Rock Chief Allan Odawa Jr. said Monday.
Now, he said, his people must engage in a “morbid scavenger hunt” to find the rest of their ancestors’ remains.
“The ancestors protected the land, and now it’s our turn to protect our ancestors,” Odawa told reporters before Monday’s protest walk.
“It just really hurts that we had to go to this extent just to get our word out there, but now it’s out there and hopefully there will be positive changes,” he said.
Red Rock Indian Band has asked for a written commitment from Parks Canada not to build on land the band believes was a sacred place.
In a written statement issued to news media on Monday, Parks Canada acknowledged that the discovery of ancestral remains during construction in the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area “has been painful and distressing to members of the Red Rock Indian Band.”
Archaeological assessments were made and “Parks Canada diligently followed all protocols,” said the federal department.
Parks Canada halted construction when remains were found and has been working with the First Nation and others “to ensure proper and respectful steps were followed,” the statement said.
The department said it is “assessing alternate locations in Nipigon” for the future visitor centre.
Odawa said he was grateful for the support of other First Nations in the region at Monday’s protest.
One of those supporters was Chief Lawrence Wanakamik of Whitesand First Nation.
“We need to respect the remains that were found in our traditional homeland and support each other,” Wanakamik said.
Pic Mobert (Netmizaaggamig) Chief Louis Kwissiwa said he was participating “to support our brothers and sisters, to support our children and to support the cause here. I think what Parks Canada is doing is unjustifiable.”
Shuniah Mayor Wendy Landry said she was there as a Red Rock Indian Band member to help get Parks Canada to understand the importance of the remains and see that they “are returned to the community so we can repatriate properly and pay our due respect.”
The protest is to ensure the issue gets “some proper attention that should have been done a long time ago,” she said.
“What occurred at this site speaks to the larger systemic issues of settler entities having control over our land and, in turn, over our ancestors,” Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige is quoted as saying in a news release. “The community simply wants to find its ancestors, but the lack of accountability for where the earth has been moved to demonstrates that this is not a priority for all parties involved.”