Been following the post on Indian artifacts in the other forum section. Very interesting.
My question is simply--who owns an artifact, like an arrowhead, if its found on Crown land in Northwestern Ontario? If I find say an arrowhead on the beach in front of my house can I keep it? Can I sell it?
Bear in mind I don't own the first 2 chains (66 ft) back from the high water mark.
The three "S" rule applies.
"S"coop it.
"S"ecrete it.
"S"hut up about it.
Three "P"s also works.
"P"ick it up.
"P"ut it away.
"P"lug yer cake hole about it.
The finders keepers thing doesn't work very well if you are trying to be legitamit, you find something worth a fair bit and you don't earn much money.
In the late 50's a tourist operator on Lake Nipigon was puttin in a new dock when his backhoe dug up a cache of old copper artifacts. Where he wanted to put that dock was obviously an ancient Indian campsite--probably thousands of years old. For those who aren't aware of it--Pre-Columbian Copper was mined in only one place in all of North America.
Those artifacts wound up in the Royal Ontario Museum--probably buried in some drawer in the basement. When the Nipigon Museum opened and asked for their return--they were given plastic replicas.
The plastic replicas were very well done--I know because I took them to the tourist operator and he thought they were the real thing. I don't know if he ever got anything for them but he didn't mention it. He did tell me he wished he had never said anything but that was because it held up his dock building while the archeologist dicked around one whole Summer and he needed his new dock.
You may have to, "Ask the horse".
Good luck dealing with the ministry, but it may be the only sure way to learn the answer.