Ne’bwaakah giizwed ziibi: A Significant Ancestral Site Returned to Saugeen First Nation – Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP
On May 5th, 2026, Saugeen First Nation reclaimed something taken from them twice: first by colonial dispossession, and again in November 2022 when a property owner bulldozed an irreplaceable ancestral and burial site without warning, without permits, and without any of the legal protections that exist precisely to prevent this kind of harm. At a sentencing hearing held at Saugeen First Nation, an Ontario court confirmed the resolution of a prosecution about that archaeological site disturbance, including the return of the land to the First Nation. Ownership and the ability to protect one of Canada’s most significant archaeological sites is now back where it belongs.
Ne’bwaakah giizwed ziibi (“River Mouth Speaks”) is a large and highly significant archeological site located where the Saugeen River meets Lake Huron. The confirmed archaeological site extends over several properties, including most of the property at 6 South Rankin Street in Southampton, Ontario. For the Saugeen First Nation, this is a place where ancestors gathered for ceremony, fishing, and to engage with other Nations.
