Indian Remains Re-interred

"Harken everyone present. We are gathered in this particular place, the ancient resting place of our forefathers. No doubt it is that we on the face of the earth were derived from these ancestors..."

SCARBOROUGH (Staff) - The bones of Indians who died centuries ago were returned to rest in a bleak Scarborough Township hilltop Saturday, two months after the advance of the white man's city disturbed their hidden grave.

Beneath sullen, grey skies a blind chief ow the Six Nations intoned the ancient Longhouse rites of the dead over a symbolic pile of human bones, covered by a wolf pelt in a newly dug grave.

Around him grouped 250 of his people in full costume, most from the Grand River Reservation near Brantford, but some from Quebec and New York State and as far away as Oklahoma.

Around them stood thousands of white visitors, come to see a ceremony that had never happened before, and may never happen again.

Inches beneath their feet in the yellow clay of Tabor's Hill lay the bones of countless other Indians who may have died before the white man came to this continent.

Their remains were hidden there until two months ago, when a bulldozer, levelling away the hill to make way for a new subdivision in this booming Toronto suburb, suddenly cut into the graves.

Half the hill had already been trucked away as fill. But work stopped at that point, and within 24 hours the spot had been named a historic site by the Ontario government.

It was in this setting, with the man-made cliff at his back that the blind Chief David Thomas chanted in Onondaga the condolence ceremony, specially reworded for the unique occasion:

"Now to you whose remains rest before us, said to be our forefathers: We know not the cause of your passing. We know not whether your death was from sickness or from what other cause. The case is strange that so many people are buried in this area."

For the white men, a prayer for forgiveness:

"The uncovering of your bones was not purposely done by our white brethern. So we ask your forgiveness and beg you not to molest or harm them in the days and nights to come."

Sacred tobacco was sprinkled into a fire to carry the prayers to the heavens.

Following the beliefs of the Longhouse religion, all those present, both Indian and white, were asked to take part in the Great Feast of the Dead, both as a token of friendship and as protection from the spirits, angry at the disturbance of the remains.

Corn and beef soup and Indian corn bread were served to many of the estimated 15,000 who visited the site during the day.

For the benefit of the visitors the ceremonies were translated into English. Handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, they were committed to paper for the first time.

As the final act of the traditional rites, a full meal was left for the spirits of the dead in a teepee erected for the purpose. The tradition required that the first person on the scene the next morning eat the meal.

How many Indians are buried on the hilltop is not known. The site - the highest ground in the area was always chosen - has been only partially excavated. Attempting to smooth the land early Saturday, township workmen uncovered more bones, and as they dug earth to cover them, even more.