Toronto man on hunger strike to get Niagara town to restore headstones at cemetery for Black settlers

In an effort to get a small Ontario town to pay the cost to restore 19 headstones buried at a cemetery for Black settlers, a Toronto man has chained himself to a sign and begun a hunger strike.

James Russell upped the ante in his quest to get Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) to foot the $59,000 bill for restoring the headstones. For almost a year he's been trying more conventional ways to get the town to pay the cost he says archeologists have quoted for unearthing and restoring the headstones.

At noon on Monday, the 76-year-old chained himself to the Negro Burial Ground sign and began the hunger strike, which he said he will continue until the town's mayor, Gary Zalepa, promises, on camera, that, this year, the town will unearth, clean and restore the 19 headstones.

"I arrived here yesterday at noon and chained myself to the sign. It was a bit of a chilly night, but I'm still here," Russell said.

"I'm on a hunger strike and sit-in. Actually, I have not eaten since Saturday."

Russell, who is equipped with a lawn chair, a jug of water and a blanket, said he's drinking water with electrolytes, "and the occasional coffee" given to him by people in the area to show their support.

According to Russell, 28 burial sites and 19 buried headstones were detected at the cemetery last May with the help of ground-penetrating radar.

The cemetery was the burial site for mostly early Black settlers. It's not immediately clear how the headstones were buried, but Russell is adamant they could not have sunken to their current depth without human intervention. 

He is pointing fingers at NOTL employees who he said were responsible for maintaining the site, but CBC Hamilton has not confirmed how the headstones were buried.

The town previously said "there was no removal of existing monuments and markers from the graves in the cemetery in the last 30-plus years," according to the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, the governing body for cemeteries in the province.

Russell said Zalepa visited him at the cemetery on Monday and spent around 30 minutes.

"He came and he spent half an hour explaining how poor the town is, and that the town supports what I'm doing and they are committed to restoring the Negro Burial Ground [but] they just don't know when because they don't have the money. That was the entire conversation that took half an hour," Russell said.

"When I came yesterday my insistence was that the mayor promised that this year the town will unearth, clean and restore the 19 headstones that have town employees buried back in the 1970s and '80s. I didn't get that promise from the mayor. He basically said, 'We're working on it but we don't have the money.'"

Town council aware of situation, lord mayor says

Zalepa — whose official local title is lord mayor — confirmed he has been on site and that he has spoken directly with Russell. He said Niagara-on-the-Lake town council is aware of the situation at the Negro Burial Ground.

"When speaking to Mr. Russell last night, I expressed the town's desire and commitment to working through the appropriate steps to restore and preserve the burial ground," he said in a written statement to CBC Hamilton.

"While Mr. Russell and I agree on the end goal, our understanding of the required time and steps to accomplish the goal differ.

"Proper process and due diligence are essential to successfully restoring this site. Town council understands the importance of this historic burial ground and is committed to a respectful investigation and restoration process that meets all legislative requirements," Zalepa added.

Russell was also visited by one of the town's councillors, Maria Marvidis, on Monday. He said Marvidis promised to raise his request at Tuesday night's meeting of the council.

Marvidis has not responded to CBC Hamilton's request for comment.

Town says it's committed to preserving heritage in NOTL

Marnie Cluckie, NOTL's chief administrative officer, says the town wants to preserve the cemetery.

To this end, NOTL staff have been working with an archaeologist on a Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment, which consists of comprehensive research on the history and background of the property.

"They are currently completing the archaeological Stage 1 assessment and we expect to have the result of that around the end of this month," Cluckie said Tuesday.

"In consultation with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, they wanted to make sure that this was an iterative process, so once we have the results we will be able to determine the next steps. But it is the town's intent to preserve the cemetery itself, and if any headstones are located, it would be our intent to preserve those as well."

According to Cluckie, Russell and the town "actually have the same desired outcome," but Russell would like to see it happen more quickly.

"While this town would like to finish things as efficiently and effectively as possible … we also have to follow all of the proper processes and due diligence. We have requirements under the Bereavement Authority of Ontario. We also have requirements under the Ministry [of Government and Consumer Services], so it's laid out specifically how this needs to unfold," Cluckie said. 

"We have to do our due diligence. If we don't, we could be susceptible to a fine as well up to $250,000. And most importantly, I would say it's a sacred area and so we want to do our due diligence so we honour the people that are buried there and their families, as respectfully as we possibly can."

Cluckie said the town is also working with a community group called Friends of the Forgotten, who are fundraising and helping with the initiative.

"We actually did a presentation to council on March the 21st and got council's endorsement to keep going with this project," she said.

According to Cluckie, "ground penetrating radar is inconclusive," hence the need for the archaeological assessment. 

"While we appreciate that Mr. Russell completed that in November of 2021 and that gave us some preliminary information. We can't utilize that… The only thing that would be conclusive is to hire a licensed archaeologist, as the town has done, and utilize that to go through the archaeological assessment."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.