Who was buried in this graveyard for Black settlers? Why a Toronto man is fighting to have their stories told

You are letting your dog s-t on a graveyard! Black folks are buried there!" cried the man chained to an old sign at a burial site in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Have some respect!" he called out to a lady walking her dog on what looks like a grass field, as passersby pointed out she probably was not even aware - which, ironically, was the whole point of the 76-year-old man's lonely protest.

Toronto filmmaker James Russell chained himself to a sign at the Negro Burial Ground" on Monday in the sleepy Ontario border town, in the hope of drawing awareness to the unmarked graves and headstones. He believes the headstones were buried by workers in the 1970s so they could more easily cut the grass, although the claim is not proven.

This is really my last ditch effort to restore dignity to the folks buried here, who have been rendered anonymous by the town," said Russell, who stumbled upon the site while working as a photojournalist for the Star in the 1980s.

Who's buried here? There are people buried here who had lives and stories. Their descendants can never visit and learn their stories because their ancestors have been rendered anonymous."

In May, 28 graves and 19 buried headstones were detected during a ground-penetrating radar survey -which Russell obtained permission from the town to conduct, and personally paid $2,400 for, in order to determine how many people were buried and where.

The museum definitely has records showing that there are more individuals buried there. Our belief is probably less than 20 people," said Sarah Kaufman, managing director of the Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) museum in an interview with the Star.

Unfortunately, a lot of the record has disappeared, just because of how long ago that church closed down and things that might have been kept by museums or transferred to other churches."

Kaufman said although the radar scanning of the property has found disturbances in the ground, that doesn't fully confirm that those are headstones.

We haven't done too much digging into the individuals at this time but I endorse efforts that work in partnership with the town. Perhaps the town with archeological research into it might find some more stones there."

Located on Mississauga St. the burial site has a sign that gives only a glimpse into its almost 200 year history.

In the mid-1800s, a Baptist church stood on this property. However, the church was relocated while the burial ground remained with only three headstones remaining above the ground.

One belongs to John Oakley, who although white, became pastor of a predominantly Black congregation, and his son.

The other headstone belongs to George Wesley who escaped slavery in Kentucky and raised his family in Niagara-on-the-Lake, according to local media reports.

Following the discovery of the burial sites and headstones, Russell filed a complaint with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario in December, asking that it compel the town of NOTL to unearth, restore and remount the headstones."

An archeological firm, ARA, quoted Russell $59,000 for excavating and cleaning the headstones. Russell has insisted the Bereavement Authority of Ontario and the town should unearth the headstones and has requested that the town fund the excavation.

The majority of the burials were those of early Black settlers who lived in the area at that time, according to Russell. While the filmmaker does not know whose headstones were buried, he believes they could not have sunk to this depth without human intervention.

What the town says is that they laid them down and over the years, dirt covered them, and then grass covered them, which is absurd," said Russell.

There's no way a two-inch thick limestone headstone - which is what Black folks used and could afford in the 1800s - will sink a foot and a half deep into thick clay."

Russell told the Star that he will have to end his strike on day two, due to a family emergency. He also said Maria Mavridis, one of the town councillors paid him a visit and let him know the town is meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss his proposal.

She was sympathetic. She said she was trying to get six councillors on board to support the motion to pay for restoring the headstones," said Russell, adding he will be watching the town meeting to decide whether or not to continue his strike.

If the proposal passes in the town meeting, then it will be referred to the meeting next week for decision making. If not then I am back to where I started. In which case I will continue the strike and come back with my chain."

The bottom line is; I'm not giving up."

Marnie Cluckie, chief administrative officer of the town acknowledged Russell's protest in an email responding to the Star's questions.

The Town is committed to honouring those buried at the cemetery and preserving heritage in Niagara-on-the-Lake," she said.

The town council also works with a community group known as the Friends of the Forgotten and in consultation with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario to restore and preserve the burial ground long term, according to Cluckie, who said there is already an ongoing archeological assessment through funding raised by the community group.

Irem Koca is an Ottawa-based general assignment reporter for the Star. Reach her via email: ikoca@thestar.ca