Taber Hill, also spelled Tabor Hill, is a Wyandot (Huron)

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. It is located northeast of the intersection of

Lawrence Avenue Lawrence Avenue is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is divided into east and west portions (Lawrence Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue West) by Yonge Street, the dividing line of east–west streets in Toronto. Rout ...

and Bellamy Road in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

. It is estimated to date from the 14th century and contain the skeletons of over 500 Huron/Wendat. It is believed to be the only First Nations ossuary protected as a cemetery in Canada.

Site

The ossuary/cemetery covers an area of and is shaped as a mound. The

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

was eventually found to be about fifty feet long, seven feet wide, and one foot deep. Kenyon first estimated that 472 individuals were buried there. The site was first estimated to date to circa 1250 AD. Further studies of the site determined that the site was not one of the Six Nations, but rather one of the Wyandot (Huron) peoples, who are related to the Six Nations. The total number of buried skeletons was revised to be 523, and the burial mound was estimated to date to the 14th century. The skeletons were buried in a ritual manner consistent with the Wendat Feast of Souls. In the same year that the ossuary was found, an Iroquoian village site was excavated west of this location at Brimley Road where it crosses West Highland Creek. The two sites are believed to be linked. Another, larger Huron/Wendat village site (known as the "Alexandra Site") was found in 2000 just north of L'Amoreaux Park (North) northwest of McNicoll and Kennedy. An estimate of the number of persons residing in the larger site is between 800 and 1000. Archaeologists who studied the larger site believe it is possible the three sites may be linked. Other sites exist within the Rouge River valley (the Elliot site, Robb site, the Fairty ossuary, the Milroy site and Draper site) that are also Iroquoian.

History

The cemetery was discovered on August 17, 1956, when a

steam shovel A steam shovel is a large steam engine, steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as Rock (geology), rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. Steam shovels played a major role in ...

was in the process of demolishing the high hill. The soil was being transported for use in constructing an overpass for

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian prov ...

and the cleared site was then intended to be turned into the Bendale suburban subdivision. After digging some one hundred feet into the hill the workers found a large collection of human bones. Work immediately stopped at the site to allow for an expert investigation. Scarborough Reeve

Gus Harris Augustus Vincent Patrick Harris (July 1908 – February 20, 2000) was a Canadian politician. He was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He was the mayor of Scarborough, Ontario from 1978 to 1988. Although he was a relatively conservative, ...

first announced that the found bones were not of Indian (indigenous) origin due to a lack of artifacts and were instead a disposal of bones or mass burial of a cholera epidemic of 1870. Royal Ontario Museum assistant curator of ethnology Walter Kenyon supervised an archaeological examination of the site. The examination found a second burial pit. Kenyon described the larger pit as "the deepest ossuary I have ever seen or heard of" and "the most significant ethnological discovery in Canada's history." The site was declared a historical site on August 22, 1956, by Bryan Cathcart, Ontario Minister of Travel and Publicity, invoking the ''Protection of Archeological and Historic Sites Act.'' The site was then put under police guard to prevent loss of artifacts after a copper bead was taken away by a child. The

Government of Ontario The Government of Ontario () is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The term ''Government of Ontario'' refers specifically to the executive—political Minister ...

purchased the site, exchanging it for land elsewhere in the area. Representatives of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

Six Nations were invited to supervise an Iroquois Feast of the Dead reburial ceremony. The ceremony was held over three days from October 19–21, supervised by Chief Joseph Logan and was attended by more than 200 indigenous people and several thousand local residents and visitors. The Iroquois ritual was by tradition a closed ceremony and some Iroquois did not attend for that reason. A new hole was dug for re-interment of the bones five deep and the bones re-interred with wolf pelts on top. A banquet was subsequently held at the Scarborough Golf Club, where

Jack Pickersgill John Whitney Pickersgill (23 June 1905 – 14 November 1997) was a Canadian civil servant and politician. He was born in Ontario, but was raised in Manitoba. He was Clerk of the Privy Council in the early 1950s. He was first elected to fe ...

, then the federal minister of citizenship and immigration addressed the crowd. Iroquois representatives held annual Feast of the Dead ceremonies from 1957 until 1966. In 1961, a memorial was installed at the top of the mound. It has a Scarborough Township historical plaque on one side. The other side has a plaque with a prayer incorrectly attributed to "White Cloud" and a statement that reads "Approved by Iroquois Council 3-3-60" - however, the origin of this prayer is the Lakota Nation, translated to English by Chief Yellow Lark in 1887 and published in the collection ''Native American Prayers'', by the Episcopal Church. The site is designated as a cemetery and is administered by the

City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the ''City of Toron ...

. The surrounding area is known as Tabor Hill Park. While designated a cemetery, there have been concerns that the area is often used as a park.

References

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External links

Taber Hill historic plaques
Buildings and structures in Scarborough, Ontario Cemeteries in Toronto First Nations history in Ontario First Nations sites in Toronto Wyandot