The Saugeen Shores Municipal Heritage Committee is paying tribute to the significant aboriginal history in the municipality.
The committee unveiled an interpretive plaque at Port Elgin's Nodwell Park, the site of the only known Iroquois village to have existed in Bruce County.
Chair Joyce Johnston says the village existed in the 1300s and was home to about 500 Iroquois from what is now Simcoe County, adding it's believed they came to the area to set up trading networks with other aboriginal villages.
She says the village only existed for about 20 years and there are many theories as to why they left so suddenly.
"The reason they left, probably, was the ground had been used up, the value of it, the fish wasn't enough and they were concerned about other Indians coming and having wars, so they went back to Simcoe County, we believe," says Johnston.
She says the land was used for farming early in the 20th century and arrowheads and other artifacts would occasionally be discovered, but adds it wasn't until the 1970s that an archaeological dig discovered the significance of the site.
Johnston says the discovery put on hold plans to develop the land for residential use, with the developers turning it over to the municipality to be used as parkland.
She adds it's important for the heritage committee to recognize the Nodwell Park site, because there's no obvious signs of what was once there and they want people to understand the significance of the park.
