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York Unknown: Skennen’kó:wa Gamig House - Formerly the Hart House

Updated: Mar 17, 2019

Now for the full story...

Images courtesy of York Unknown

A few minutes walk west from Osgoode Hall Law School and next to the York Tipi nestled in the middle of an apple orchard, you will come across a two story three bedroom cabin, partially hidden by trees and ivy. This was the Hart House, constructed in the 1820s from the wood of old houses, [1] belonging to a mysterious family of which there are a surprising lack of records for. Hart House was not originally on York’s land; they relocated it in the 1930s from King Township, which is twenty-five miles north of the university.[2] The house was owned by the Hart family until 1958, and then briefly owned by Claude Passy before YorkU expropriated the land in 1964.[3]


From what we could find about the family, Mr. and Mrs. Hart decided to relocate and use this house as a summer retreat.[4] The Harts resided there together until the unfortunate death of Mr. Hart, [5] although it is unknown when and how he passed. Mrs. Hart continued to live in the house until 1964.[6] We were not able to find any further records of children or of what happened to Mrs. Hart after she left. Although the Hart family seems to have an established history of living in Ontario, there are barely any records of any kind that we could find on them. This lack of records leaves so many questions unanswered. What were they like? Did they have any children? How did Mr. Hart die? Did he die in the house? If he did, why would Mrs. Hart continue to live there? Maybe she still wanted to feel connected to her husband on the other side…


After York seized the house in the 60s, a couple of faculty members actually resided there. [7] Dr. C. D. Foule, who was the Master of Vanier College lived in it from 1966-1970.[8] After that, Bill Farr, secretary of the university lived there with his family in the 1970s.[9] It is unknown when they moved out.


It compels you to wonder if those families, including the Harts, ever experienced any supernatural phenomena in a house that is almost 200 years old. As you will or have read about in the other blogs, pioneers had difficult, exhausting, and sometimes violent lives. This energy may have been translated into the house itself over the centuries it has been standing, and maybe still is…

Images courtesy of York Unknown

However, the Harts don’t bring the only history to this house or even the land surrounding it. In fact, it isn’t called the Hart House anymore. In 2017, it was renamed Skennen’kó:wa Gamig House, meaning “the House of Great Peace,” meant to be a safe space for indigenous students and faculty.[10] The area on and surrounding it is actually on the traditional territory of several Indigenous nations, including the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Anishinabek Nation, the Huron-Wendat, the Metis Nations and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.[11]


The Hart House is not just a singular area of campus that was once indigenous land - the entire area was, and the university officially acknowledges this.[12]There are also other formally recognized sections on campus such as the Michael Boyer Woodlot,[13] which is a ten minute walk from the House. According to ‘Alternative Campus Tour’ on the YorkU website, First Nations peoples’ fires burnt the forest now known as the Michael Boyer Woodlot for centuries.[14]These fires were likely used to provide room for the three sisters (squash, beans and corn), for spiritual ritual, and fostering community.[15] European settlers’ plows and axes would later breach the same earth and surrounding trees to establish fields for cash crops.[16]Fortunately, the forest was able to maintain some of its original ecological integrity during the settlement and farming era.[17]After the property was purchased from the Stong Family, the university started its rapid construction phase in the 1960s.[18] The Michael Boyer Woodlot is recognized as a place of study and student refuge, an obstacle to development and a management unit.

Images courtesy of York Unknown

The Indigenous history is rich in this land and its surrounding areas. This fact is seldom pointed out when talking about York University.


There is academic evidence found through explorations and excavations, that indigenous peoples lived on the land that now surrounds and is YorkU Keele campus by Dr. J. N. Emerson of UofT starting in 1948.[19]


Here are some of the excavation sites and discoveries:

  • 1950; Downsview site located at Keele & Sheppard. No settlement was found, however slim evidence of cannibalism was found in a mandible pendant.[20]

  • 1952; Parsons site located at Finch Ave W & Keele. Multiple house structures were exposed, “along with an abundance of fragmented human remains...and the presence of mandible and skull gorgets, which suggested cannibalism.”[21] Burial grounds were also discovered nearby.[22]

According to one source, Etienne Brûlé, a European settler and prominent figure in Canadian history, was killed and eaten in 1633 by Hurons who accused him of crime.[23] This however is not fully proven and just speculation.


The grand history of the various Indigenous groups from this area deserves to be known and talked about more. This land carries a painful past, which may be translated into the houses here and the university itself – you can reflect on this the next time you walk through campus…

Images courtesy of York Unknown

* Disclaimer: This blog is not in association with York University or Black Creek Pioneer Village.

 

[1] Typescript of the Hart house’s location and the Hart family. F0450. 1979-037, Box 1, York University Historical Collection fonds, Clara Thomas Archives, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

[2] Newspaper article titled "Oasis in the Concrete Desert" by Richard Andreansky, November 2, 1972. F0450. 1979-037, Box 1, York University Historical Collection fonds, Clara Thomas Archives, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] "Skennen'kó:wa Gamig: York U's Hart House Renamed to Create Safe Space for Indigenous Peoples." York Media Relations. June 21, 2017. http://news.yorku.ca/2017/06/21/skennenkowa-gamig-york-us-hart-house-renamed-to-create-safe-space-for-indigenous-peoples/.

[11] Ibid.

[12] "Land Acknowledgment - Ethics in Indigenous Research Workshop 2018." York University. http://ireworkshop.laps.yorku.ca/land-acknowledgement.

[13] Bardekjian, Adrina. "Michael G Boyer Woodlot: A Living Place of Symbiotic Stories: Exploring Woodlots as Place-makers of Culture, Time and Resistance." Alternative Campus Tour. February 11, 2018. http://alternativecampustour.info.yorku.ca/2018/02/michael-g-boyer-woodlot-a-living-place-of-symbiotic-stories-exploring-woodlots-as-place-makers-of-culture-time-and-resistance/.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Hart, Patricia W. Pioneering in North York: A History of the Borough. Toronto: General Pub. Co., 1971. Pg 6.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Ibid, 7.

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