400-Year-Old Skeleton Of Aboriginal Woman Found By Canadian Couple In Backyard

Two weeks ago, Ken Campbell and Nicole Sauve were digging postholes to install a fence, when they came upon some bones. At first, the couple, who lives in Sarnia, Ontario, thought the remains belonged to an animal, but Sauve encouraged her husband to keep digging and found a whole human skeleton.

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The couple called the authorities, who cordoned off the area, and called up forensic anthropologist Michael Spence to examine the site. Upon evaluation, Spence told the Toronto Star that the skeleton was that of a woman who was about 24 years old when she died, probably in the late 1500s or early 1600s. The condition of her teeth led him to suspect she was part of hunting, gathering and fishing society.

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The couple lives by the Blue Water Bridge, an area that once was the center of an Ojibwa trade network. Spence said the woman is probably a descendant of those merchants.

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After finishing all investigations, the Registrar of Cemeteries was contacted and they told Sauve she had to pay for the assessment conducted in her backyard because under Ontario's Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, property owners are responsible for the costs of an archaeological assessment if human remains are found on their land.

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The final bill is for $5,000 and Sauve has appealed to the mayor of Sarnia to pay the archaeologist. "I did the right thing by her, and this is what's happening," she said.

The remains are now resting at the cemetery on the Aamjiwnaang First nation. The woman is likely distantly related to the residents of the reserve nearby.

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Sauve said people have been telling her that if they end up in a similar situation, they won't alert authorities and risk having to pay an enormous bill. "That is awful," she said. "God forbid you have a murder victim, and you cover them up. Never will that person be brought home; never will their family have closure."