Blackbear

************************************************** ************
This Message Is Reprinted Under The Fair Use
Doctrine Of International Copyright Law:
_http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html_
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html)
************************************************** ************

FROM: THE TORONTO STAR NEWSPAPER

_http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Articl
e_Type1&c=Article&cid=1124920224934&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845&
DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes_
(http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...0224934&call_p
ageid=968350130169&col=969483202845&DPL=IvsNDS/7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes)

Aug. 25, 2005. 01:00 AM





(http://ads.thestar.com/click.ng/site...edesc=windowad) JIM WILKES/TORONTO STAR Luc Laine of the Wendake First
Nation emerges yesterday from a tarped-off area after viewing bones of more than
100 of his ancestors. A Visit With Old Souls
Native leader views remains

Describes feeling as `priceless'
JIM WILKES
STAFF REPORTER

Luc Lainé emerged from behind the big blue tarp a sombre, inspired man.
He'd travelled from the Wendake First Nation in Quebec to view the ancient
bones of his ancestors, uncovered earlier this month during a road-rebuilding
project in Vaughan.
"I communicated with the souls of my people," said Lainé, a descendant of
the Huron Indians who inhabited the area near Jane St. and Teston Rd. between
500 and 700 years ago.
"It is very moving, a very spiritual feeling."
Lainé went to the site yesterday on a fact-finding mission for the eight
chiefs and grand chief of the Huron-Wendat, now based near Quebec City. They wil
l consult with other First Nations in Ontario to decide what will become of
the ossuary, a bone pit containing the remains of more than 100 people.
He expected to be moved but came away with a feeling he described as
"priceless."
"We believe that we have two souls: one goes into the world of the spirits
and one remains with your bones," he said.
"I told them that I am here, that I want to take care of you. You are
important to me.
"I told them that we will not leave them like this, that we will leave them
in peace and respect," he said.
Lainé's visit seemed to soften a controversy brewing since the bones were
uncovered more than two weeks ago.
Following the regulations of Ontario's Cemeteries Act, archeologists first
contacted the Scugog First Nation near Port Perry because it was the closest
band to the site.
"We've come to the understanding that it's a commitment for all of us to
look after our ancestors together," Chief Chris Nahrgang, archeology liaison for
the Scugogs, said yesterday after joining Lainé for a tour.
He said he would prefer that the bones remain where they are, walled up and
marked with a plaque at the edge of the new road. But he said he would abide
by any decision made by the Huron-Wendats in conjunction with York Region.
Nahrgang said it is important to set guidelines for future finds as
development reaches further into Greater Toronto.
"These people have been here a long time," he said of the remains. "We've
never in that time sat down with the governments of Canada and said, `This is
the protocol you need to follow when you find our people.'"
Archeologist Ron Williamson, hired by the region to study the site, said he
hopes to release a report next week. He said the bones are likely associated
with an ancient Indian village about 500 metres away that was first excavated
in the 1920s.
"These villages were very cosmopolitan," Williamson said. "They had a lot of
people in them from different nations."
Work on the road has been halted around the bone site and is being guarded
by police 24 hours a day to prevent looting.

__________________
Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing, sing a song.