#NCFCharity Spotlight: The Brown Homestead

Thee Niagara Community Foundation is pleased to spotlight one of this year’s David S. Howes Fund Grant recipients in this feature article on their website. niagaracommunityfoundation.org/digging-deeper/

Cultivating community is an intentional and important process. There are some communities that come together quickly, while other communities take time to bring together. For the Brown Homestead, cultivating community is not only a priority but it is the very lifeblood of what they do. “Community is the next family of the homestead,” says Mary Maida, Director of Development with the organization.

As the oldest house in St. Catharines, first settled in 1785, the Brown Homestead has been transformed from a private residence into a public community space. Purchased in 2015 by Andrew Humeniuk, fifth generation decedent from John Brown, the Brown Homestead is being restored piece by piece. Dedicated to creating a welcoming space where everyone is welcome to explore their personal history, discover a sense of belonging and find their place within our collective past, the Brown Homestead has a vision to create a space where community is at the heart of the homestead. To do this, Humeniuk and his team has invited community members to help restore the original character and together set a vision for new future for the property. But before they can begin to expand, they need to dig a bit deeper.

Thanks to a David S. Howes Fund grant through NCF, the Brown Homestead embarked on an archeological dig on the 7.5 acre property to see what lies beneath the surface. Under the direction of Dr. John Triggs, the lead archeologist of Triggs Heritage Consulting, the Brown Homestead invited volunteers from the community to participate in the dig. The process is methodical and measured, insuring nothing is missed. With 330 test sites, spaced every 5×5 meters, the turned up soil is sifted through to look for artifacts and historically significant markers to help tell the story of the land.

But the group is not only concerned about the history of the four families that settled this land. Located on Pelham Road, the land is located on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabek, and Haudenosaunee peoples, and is along the Mohawk Trail, one of the three main east-west trails and transit route for Indigenous people, long before John Brown arrived. Doing an archeological dig, under the observation of Jodie Lovegrove, a field liaison representative of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN), is a way to honour the history of the land that reaches far beyond 1785. The findings that are unearthed through the archeological dig are assessed for their historical significance and also to ensure that the history of the original care takers of the land is honoured.

The dig unearthed a number of fascinating and significant findings. Stay tuned for a full report and Podcast episode on the Brown Homestead website for full details.

Community is cultivated with purpose and intentionality. The Brown Homestead is creating community one step at a time and NCF is proud to help in the process.