Grimsby's Burial of the Dead

Grimsby had a roller coaster at one time. While it started out as a rural village, it moved on to become a centre for manufacturing farm machinery, hospital furniture and furnaces.  Then it seemed to go back to fruit growing and fishing.  This is the history after the Loyalists came and settled.  What about before that?  I have wondered what the "Neutral Indian Burial Ground" sign meant at Centennial Park.  Dezi and I go there to chase squirrels. I find out there is an interesting story about the earliest known residents - the Neutral Indians.  They were a confederacy of Iroquoian tribes that occupied the area around western Lake Ontario before 1655.   The burial ground is a significant heritage site - here's the site that describes their burial rites below: "The Neutral Indian burial ground in Grimsby was probably in use from c. 1640-50, and provides a rich source of information regarding the social organization and material culture of the confederacy. The Neutrals had great reverence for the dead, and burials were generally conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the deceased were put on a scaffold, and remained there until their flesh decayed. The bones were then brought back into the houses to await the second stage of burial. The secondary burial stage coincided with the Feast of the Dead. This was an elaborate, multi-day ceremony that was apparently conducted annually by the Neutral Indians. During the Feast, many of the deceased were collected and put into communal burial pits. The Neutral Indian burial ground in Grimsby provides a wealth of information about this little-known confederacy. Since the Neutrals disappeared prior to extensive exploration and settlement in the area, only a sporadic record exists concerning their culture. The Grimsby burial ground has contributed greatly in providing a better understanding of these largely unknown people."