Sentencing for a company that plead guilty to disturbing a registered Southampton archaeological site will be held within Saugeen First Nation next week.
The charges were laid back in November 2022, after a numbered company was found to have disturbed the site at 6 South Rankin Street, and demolished a building without a permit.
According to a statement from SFN, Justice of the Peace Michael Cuthbertson recently accepted a guilty plea from the numbered company.
As part of the plea arrangement, the land located at 6 South Rankin Street was transferred, free of charge, to Saugeen First Nation.
The judge also agreed to the uncommon move of delivering the formal sentencing outside of the courtroom, at the James Mason Recreation Centre on May 5.
SFN shared the schedule of how events will play out that day, with a sunrise ceremony and ceremonial fire at 6 a.m., followed by a trip to the site and Bruce County Museum, and finally with court proceedings taking place around 1 p.m.
Ne'bwaakah Giizwed Ziibi, also known as the River Mouth Speaks in the Ontario Archaeological Sites Database, is one of the most significant archaeological sites that have been documented in the Territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.
Bruce County Museum records confirm the existence of human burials on the South Rankin Street property. In 2010, Saugeen First Nation was involved in a limited excavation that resulted in the excavation of over 100,000 artifacts.
