Anishinaabeg Wendat Haudenosaune Wampum

Footprints in Clay

Oil painting of shoreline. There are two Indigenous men on the shore wearing traditional dress. A few metres from them is a canoe. There is land on either side and in the water there is a boat at a distance. The sky is partially cloudy.

Toronto Harbour 1793, looking west from about mouth of Don River. Arthur Cox, 1793. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library, Baldwin Collection.

Black and white photo of five Indigenous men sit in a semi-circle on their laps they hold wampum belts that they are examining. One man is standing also holding a wampum belt. In front of the man in the centre is a table with multiple wampum belts on it. Bare wall in background.

Iroquois Chiefs from the Six Nations Reserve reading Wampum belts in Brantford, Ontario. (L to R: Joseph Snow, George Henry Martin Johnson, John Buch, John Smoke Johnson, Isaac Hill, John Senaca Johns

Black and white photo of Wendat village. In the foreground is a shack constructed of wood and bark, beside it are wooden racks holding animal furs and hides for drying. To the right are stakes holding together the form of a canoe. Directly behind is a group of people conversing. To the left is a longhouse which a crescent shaped housed constructed of wood and bark. In the background are wooden stakes placed upright to form a stockade.

Reconstruction of a Wendat village. Herb Taylor, 1955. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada.

Footprints in Clay

Indigenous people have been in the Toronto area for thousands of years, with some of the earliest evidence being footprints from 11,000 years ago preserved in clay in the Toronto Bay. In fact, on the east side of the Don Valley there was once a 2,000 BCE settlement that was later re-occupied by Anishinaabeg in the Early Iroquian period (900-1,300 CE).

Highly valued land

The north shore of Lake Ontario had been a coveted settlement area due to the wealth of resources and access to the Carrying Place trail which opened access to Georgian Bay and beyond. The Wendat had been in the area for a while but longtime enemies the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabeg fought over the area. In 1701 the Anishinaabeg drove the Haudenosaunee out of the area and came to a peace.

Reaching an agreement

In 1701, the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg committed to peace with a treaty in the form of a wampum belt. This is a belt made of clam shell beads that visually represents an agreement. The belt depicts a dish with one spoon, the Great Lakes area is the dish that must be shared by all and protected so it can continue to serve us. It is important to abide by the Dish with One Spoon today.

Losing the land

After this, the Mississaugas were the primary inhabitants of the Toronto area. Over time, the settler population grew and overtook the area the Mississaugas had occupied so they moved to the Credit River. The settler occupation continued to expand and the Mississaugas found themselves searching for a new settlement. The Haudenosaunee invited them to their reservation lands along the Grand River where both groups still live today.

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