A circle of stones discovered in a forest north of the
Beaver Pond is possibly a sacred First Nations artifact, said an Ottawa Algonquin
First Nations medicine man.
Ron Bigbear Goddard, an Ottawa Algonquin First Nations
medicine man, said the circle of stones might be a medicine wheel used by
natives as an astrological, healing and teaching tool.
“I have that feeling and I haven’t been wrong when I’ve
found wheels and such,” said Gooddard when he looked at the stones.
Goddard met with representatives of KNL, which plans to
build a large housing subdivision on 29 hectares of land north of the Beaver
Pond, today, Jan. 6.
The land has been fenced off and KNL plans to begin cutting
down trees sometime this month, said Mary Jarvis, director of planning and land
development for the housing project.
Goddard said he strongly suspects the rocks are a medicine
wheel, but the only way to be certain is to perform a study of the area next
spring after the snow has melted, he said.
Nick Adams, who performed an archaeological study of the
area for KNL in 2003, said the stones were probably used by homesteaders in the
1820s as a marker to divide land.
“Two stones can make a wall in one’s mind, or they could
make an alignment,” he said. “Your eyes can make things something they aren’t.”
Paul Renaud, one of the leaders of the Coalition to Protect
the South March Highlands, said KNL should delay tree cutting until another
archaeological study is completed to determine if a medicine wheel and other
archaeologically significant sites exist on the land slated to be turned into a
subdivision.
“If this was missed what else was missed?” he said.
“It’s not just a medicine wheel, there were two other
(archaeologically significant) sites,” said Renaud.
The Broughten Lands survey found stone tools carved 10,000
years ago on two separate sites near the Beaver Pond development.
The Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands has sent
a letter to the City of Ottawa
and the Ontario Ministry of Culture asking for a hold on all development in the
Beaver Pond forest until another archaeological survey is completed.
After investigating the circle of stones, Goddard held a
special tobacco offering, blessing and prayer for the Beaver Pond land today, Jan.
6, which was attended by Renaud, Adams, Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson,
Jarvis and two engineers from KNL.
Jarvis said the City of Ottawa could protect the land with the circle
of stones by including it as part of the lands protected as greenspace under
the 40 per cent agreement.
“It comes back to the 40 per cent agreement,” Jarvis said. “If
the city wants to make it as part of the 40 per cent – that will make another
adjustment to the subdivision plan.”
URBANDALE
CONSERVATION FOREST
Earlier this week, the South March Highlands – Conservation
Inc., the corporate arm of the Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands,
asked KNL to make the lands it owns in the South March Highlands a charitable
trust, administered by the coalition.
In exchange, Urbandale, who
together with Richcraft Homes formed KNL, would receive all its money back in a
tax credit and the coalition would name the land the Urbandale Conservation
Forest.
“Our marketing experts will work with you on signage and
branding opportunities accordingly,” said Renaud in a letter to Urbandale. “When I
leveraged our existing stewardship plan for the area, which emphasizes
eco-tourism involving an audience measured in millions of people, we believe
that this will be of significant branding value to you.”
Urbandale
will refuse the offer, said Jarvis.
“We think the scheme is ill advised, and the approach is
taking liberty with the tax code,” she said.
blair.edwards@metroland.com