LUNENBURG - The Mi'kmaq Burial Ground Research and Restoration Association has asked the Town of Lunenburg to remove the playground equipment from 250th Anniversary Park and assist in erecting a monument marking the site as a Mi'kmaq burial ground.

 The park, which was built in 2002 in honour of the 250th anniversary of the arrival of the foreign Protestants at a cost of $85,000, is located on a two-acre parcel of land which lies between the fire hall and the French cemetery.

 Along with a playground, the site also includes a Mi'kmaq interpretative and water conservation garden, a fountain and a stage for live performances.

 Association president Ellen Hunt brought the group's request to council's October 27 meeting, following up on a September letter to council in which the group identified the site as a burial ground "through oral history."

 "We often see feathers tied in the trees at this location. It has been disturbed many times, with the trail, the fire hall and the train station. However to prevent further destruction, we would like to erect a monument at the site," Ms Hunt wrote. "We don't feel it's appropriate to have the children's playground located here, so we would like for the town to please remove it."

 The letter also stated that the plants in the Mi'kmaq garden are in need of care and the association would like to see them upgraded "with the town's support."

 Ms Hunt was joined at council by five other members of the association, including Laurie Lacey who was involved in the original development of the existing garden.

 During her presentation, Ms Hunt told council the association has 65 burial sites listed in their database, and Lunenburg is included in that list.

 "I have researched the site in Lunenburg from various sources, and was told by an elderly resident of Lunenburg whose husband was a grave taker while living in the … Town of Lunenburg that the Mi'kmaq gravesite was between the French cemetery and the Lunenburg fire hall, including the trail that runs by the shore," she said.

 Ms Hunt told council that she has the ability to pick up energy when she walks through a Mi'kmaq burial site, "and the energy in this area is very powerful and it directs me to where the burial site is located."

 She also said that fellow association member Dan Pittman had a vision of skeletons while sitting on the ground there in 1984.

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 "We can't do anything with the past, we learn from it and move on. However, we can update what the town has already done to the area," she said. "It's part of the town's heritage, Nova Scotia and Canada."

 During council discussion on the request, Councillor Jamie Myra pointed out that the park was built with a "substantial" grant from other levels of government and questioned whether, for that reason, the site would have to remain a park.

 "There's also a lot of people who think that park is beautiful, and use it for Canada Day events and other things," he said. "I think we have to have some facts somewhere that we can find … and documentation in the archives of where the actual burial site was, or close proximity, more so than what we've heard here tonight. I certainly am not convinced that right where that playground area is, is where [they're] buried."

 Town staff indicated to council that forensic testing performed by the RCMP in the area of the park before it was erected indicated no presence of human remains on the site, only within the confines of the adjacent French cemetery.

 "The soil outside the cordoned-off cemetery was so disturbed, they couldn't determine anything," said deputy town manager Peter Haughn, adding that the area had been "torn up" by the Canadian National Railway a number of years ago.

 While Councillor John McGee said he did not object to the erection of a monument on the site, he does oppose the town having to make a financial contribution toward it and believes the present park should not be disturbed based on the evidence of the existence of the burial ground that was presented to council by the association.

 "Being the cynic that I am, I certainly would like to see something more concrete than somebody having visions or their knee acting up when they walk over it," he said.

 Council agreed to have staff research their own files on the history of the area, as well as check with other government departments which may have information on the area before proceeding further on the matter.

 "We're going to try and firmly establish what was there and where it was located," Mayor Laurence Mawhinney said. "And we've asked the Mi'kmaq elders to come forward with a schematic as to what they would like for the area."

 He said it will likely take some time to gather all the facts, do an evaluation and "then determine, with the Mi'kmaq elders, what is the most appropriate way to recognize those earlier ancestors."

posted on 11/03/09