Over 500 souls rest beneath us. That’s the story of Tabor Hill Monument. A story etched in the very earth beneath our feet. This unassuming hill in Scarborough’s landscape holds a profound historical significance. It’s not just a hill it’s a sacred burial mound an ossuary containing the remains of over 500 Huron-Wendat people.
Imagine the scene in August 1956. Construction workers preparing to level this hill for a highway overpass. Their steam shovels unearthed something far more significant than soil. A mass of human bones. A discovery that halted all progress. It was initially believed to be a mass grave from a cholera epidemic. Walter Kenyon a curator from the Royal Ontario Museum identified the bones as Huron-Wendat. He called it the deepest ossuary he’d ever encountered. The most significant ethnological discovery in Canadian history.
These weren’t just bones they were people. People who lived and died centuries ago. Their remains were buried in a ritualistic manner consistent with the Wendat Feast of Souls. The discovery sparked a remarkable response. The Ontario government intervened declaring Tabor Hill a protected historical site. A reburial ceremony a Feast of the Dead was held with Iroquois representatives. Over 200 indigenous people and thousands of others watched as the bones were carefully reinterred covered with wolf pelts.
A memorial was placed on the mound in 1961. It carries a Scarborough Township historical plaque and a prayer. The prayer however is not Iroquois. It’s Lakota. An interesting detail often overlooked. Though officially designated a cemetery Tabor Hill is sometimes used as a park. A reminder that even sites of immense historical and spiritual importance can be overlooked.
Today standing before Tabor Hill Monument we connect with a profound past. A past that shapes our present. We remember the Huron-Wendat people their lives their rituals their place in history. This modest hill is a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of the First Nations in Canada. A place of reverence and reflection a sacred space where history and memory intertwine.