When the remains of an ancient Indigenous person were found on Friday January 5, 2024 by a construction crew on Withrow Avenue in Toronto, it caused Mark LaForme, the Director of the Department of Consultation and Accommodation (DOCA) for the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN), to ask why weren’t they involved from the start.
LaForme says it wouldn’t have changed anything about the find, but because the find is so close to another known Indigenous burial area, it would have been good to be brought in from the beginning.
The greater Toronto area is well known to have been the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. But because the MCFN hold the treaty to the area, LaForme says they have a duty to make sure the remains are treated with dignity and respect.
