Digging up First Nations history in Rouge Park

Beneath the scenicforests and wetlands of Rouge Park, First Nations archaeologists are unearthing artifacts that tell therich history oftheir ancestors.

Parks Canada willsoon develop the region into a new national urban park. A group of First Nations archaeologists have been put together to monitor the excavations and oversee the preservation of these historical lands.

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"There's a lot of different nations represented here in the park," saysLuke Swinson, anarchaeologicalmonitor at the site andmember of theMississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, in an interview with Metro Morning on Friday.

He says teamsare currently accessing the farm land that might be developed in the north end of the park.To make sure that no cultural artifacts are disturbed, they have startedtest pitting the areaan archaeological method that involvesdigging up small square spaces and sifting through the soil in each.

"We find mostly culturally modified rock,which indicates tools [were made], and this could be from thousands of years ago," hesays."We also find lots of pre-contact ceramics,arrowheadsstuff like that."

Swinson saysthe First Nationsnomadic nature means that settlements in Rouge might not have lasted very long.However,hehopes these digs willuncover their stories and help to better inform the public of their culture.

"Everytime we find something new, we can kind of piece together the puzzle of what went on here."

Despite othersconcerns about preservation, he said that he believes the traditional lands, and theover 1,700 species that inhabit them,will be fine.

"Every time I look out at [the land], I think about my ancestors and what they were doing, and it's kind of emotional," he says."Parks Canadaseem just as passionate about preserving our culture as we are."