November 4 - 11, 2024
What is Treaties Recognition Week?
The purpose of Treaties Recognition Week is to recognize the importance of treaties and increase awareness of the treaty relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Ontario.
What is a treaty?
Treaties are agreements made between the Government of Canada, Indigenous groups and often provinces and territories that define ongoing rights and obligations on all sides. Ontario would not exist as it is today without treaties. Every road, house, building, or business in a treaty area exists thanks to these agreements. They form the basis of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Although many treaties were signed more than a century ago, Treaty commitments are just as valid today as they were then.
"We are all treaty people"
"We are all treaty people" has become a well known phrase intended to emphasis that all people have treaty rights and responsibilities. Many people view treaty rights as “special” rights for Indigenous peoples, but in fact, everyone living in Canada is a treaty person with their own rights and responsibilities.
There are:
Including:
Mississauga’s of the Credit First Nation
Between the Lakes Treaty (No.3): Understanding the Land and its History
The 1784 Between the Lakes Treaty is an agreement formed by the Mississaugas of the Credit and the British Crown. The Treaty encompasses 3 million acres of land, which includes present-day Hamilton, Waterloo, St. Catharines, and Guelph. This resource created by Hamilton Civic Museums explains why the treaty was negotiated following the American Revolution, provides the boundaries and terms of the agreement, and describes the link between Treaty No. 3 and the Haldimand Tract granted to the Haudenosaunee. It further discusses the treaty text and Indigenous understandings of land. Today, the treaty continues to influence legal responsibilities and modern land claims.
Treaties from a First Nation Perspective: The Haldimand Tract and Six Nations of the Grand River
In 2020, we welcomed Phil Monture for an evening lecture on Treaties made with the Six Nations of the Grand River and how these impact life within Six Nations, both historically and today. Phil Monture is Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River. From 1975 to July 2002, Phil was the Director of the Land Claims Research Office at the Six Nations of the Grand River