A Routine Home Renovation Led to the Discovery of 1,000-Year-Old Indigenous Remains
A young Haudenosaunee man, likely in his early 20s when he died, had rested in the earth near the shores of Lake Erie for at least 1,000 years.
His burial site — which falls within the traditional homeland of the Six Nations of the Grand River — was uncovered during a home renovation in 2023.
What followed was not a process rooted in Indigenous authority or funded by the government that mandated it, but a financial and bureaucratic burden placed on the homeowners who found him.
Ancient Discovery on Six Nations Homeland
Christine and Dan Reio bought a bungalow in Wainfleet, in Ontario’s Niagara region, during the pandemic, according to the CBC. They planned to expand the property and eventually retire there.
In April 2023, they received a building permit from Wainfleet Township for demolition and an addition.
A few days into the project, the construction foreman called to report finding human remains. Police investigated and ruled out a crime scene. A provincial official then informed the couple the bones were ancestral Indigenous remains.
Tanya Hill-Montour, archaeology supervisor with Six Nations of the Grand River, estimates the remains are at least 1,000 years old.
The Wainfleet area falls within the traditional homeland of the Six Nations of the Grand River, a confederacy comprising the Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Tuscarora peoples — the Haudenosaunee.
Six Nations of the Grand River remains one of the most prominent Indigenous communities in what is now Canada.
The discovery of ancestral remains on their traditional territory carries profound cultural and spiritual weight. This is a person from a nation that still lives, still governs, and still holds deep ties to the land where he was laid to rest.
What the Law Says About Ancient Remains
The discovery triggered a process governed by a 2002 provincial law — the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act (FBCSA) — which requires a Burial Site Investigation when remains are found.
Ontario’s Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement (MPBSDP) oversees the Registrar of Burials, who ordered the investigation.
Under the FBCSA, homeowners must hire a licensed archaeologist to determine the site’s history, borders, and how to handle the remains. The investigation also determines whether the property should be classified as a cemetery if more remains are found.
The statutory framework is a provincial one, administered by a provincial ministry, with costs borne by individual property owners.
“It’s a financial burden so costly that nobody wants to take accountability for it,” Hill-Montour told the CBC. “I truly do not believe that homeowners should be completely responsible.”
How Much Will the Investigation Cost the Homeowners?
The financial dimensions are striking. One quote the Reios received for the required Burial Site Investigation came to $319,000, according to the CBC.
That estimate covered a crew of six working approximately 27 days, sifting through roughly 100 square metres of dirt using 3mm mesh screens, plus Indigenous community monitoring.
Of course, that figure is only an estimate, not a cap. Archaeologists are advised to dig a 5-metre buffer around any find, meaning costs could climb to $1 million or more if additional remains are discovered.
“This is an insane amount of money,” Christine said in an interview with the CBC. “This is not within the scope of what’s reasonable.”
“I can’t even imagine the investment of man hours spent to give us no answer,” Christine added. “I know that I personally have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours. Do they know that we don’t sleep at night? Do they know that we cry?”
A Relief Process With No End in Sight
The FBCSA includes a provision allowing homeowners to apply for financial help if the mandatory dig causes “undue financial burden.” The law provides no criteria for how a homeowner qualifies — a gap that leaves applicants in legal and bureaucratic limbo.
The Reios, for example, applied for financial relief in October 2024 and had not received a response at the time of publication. The ministry confirmed the Reios’ application is “still in progress” with no timeline given.
Between 2023 and 2025, the province received 19 applications for financial relief; 6 were approved, per the CBC.
The majority of applicants — homeowners who encountered remains on land they legally purchased — were either denied or left waiting.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
