The guest speaker at our January 24th programme was Jerry Amernic. He is an author of historical fiction and non-fiction and is a Scarborough citizen. His new book, “Medicine Man”, will be available soon and is a historical thriller that tells the tragic story of the destruction of the Seneca nation through the eyes of a young Seneca man and his family.
The Seneca village at the mouth of the Rouge River was known as Ganestiquiagon (also spelled Ganatsekwyagon) and is shown on the map circled in red. It was home to about 3300 people. The Seneca were one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois and at one time the north and south shores of Lake Ontario were ringed with Seneca villages.
Carte de l_Amérique Septentrionale, by J.B.L. Franquelin, 1688.
Archives of Ontario, F 1080 _ MU 2431.
He let us know that the Iroquois Confederacy was the first democracy in North America. In addition, the Seneca developed one of the most basic and healthy cuisines using natural foods that are still popular today, as are many of the natural medicines they used to treat illnesses.
This location was abandoned around 1687 as the Seneca relocated to south of Lake Ontario. Then in 1779, George Washington, before he became President, had his troops destroy 40 Seneca communities in the Finger Lakes area of New York State during the American Revolutionary War. Today, New York State operates the Ganondagan State Historic Site just southeast of Rochester. It stands at the location of what was one of the 17th century`s largest and most vital Seneca towns.
Centennial Plaza mural depicts a symbolic departure of Iroquoians
from the Rouge in the late 1600s. Mural by Blinc Studios
Jerry also spoke about his book “The Last Witness”. It takes place in the year 2039, and is the story of the last living survivor of the Holocaust. Jerry interviewed a Holocaust historian and met with real-life survivors who were just children when they were liberated in 1945. He also showed a video of voluntary interviews he did with university students in Toronto about their knowledge of the Holocaust and World War II. Their answers were alarming.
The Scarborough Historical Society hosts programmes on the 4th Tuesday of each month from January to April and from September to November. All programmes begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Bendale Public Library and are free and open to the public.
