People’s Choice Award Winner 2022

Missisakis: On The Indigenous History Of The Tkaronto Islands

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An aerial view of a lake surrounded by land covered with trees and buildings. It is sunny and the sky is blue with white clouds. There are many bridges and roads in the image.

Missisakis: On The Indigenous History Of The Tkaronto Islands, a project nominated for the 2022 Heritage Toronto Awards. Courtesy of Bawaadan Collective.

A woman wearing a black, red, green, and yellow dress poses with one hand over her head holding a fan and another hand on her hip. She is surrounded by green shrubs with a lake in the background. The CN tower and other tall buildings are in the distance.

Missisakis: On the Indigenous History Of The Tkaronto Islands, a project nominated for the 2022 Heritage Toronto Awards, Toronto, 2021. Courtesy of Bawaadan Collective.

A woman with glasses, grey and red hair, wearing a black shirt and black leather jacket smiles at the camera in front of a black background.

Missisakis: On The Indigenous History of the Tkaronto Islands, a project nominated for the 2022 Heritage Toronto Awards, Toronto, 2021. Courtesy of the Bawaadan Collective.

Winner: 2022 People’s Choice Award

Project Organization: Bawaadan Collective

Watch the Film: Missisakis : On The Indigenous History Of The Tkaronto Islands

Date of Release: December 9, 2021

The short film Missisakis: On The Indigenous History Of The Tkaronto Islands by the Indigenous-created/Indigenous-owned Bawaadan Collective aims to explore the history and significance of the Toronto Islands from the point of view of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This short film asks its viewers to listen for the calls to action that the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation are asking for as part of the development of the Toronto Islands, providing context to the treaties that cover Toronto, and how they relate to and impact the Toronto Islands.

The Bawaadan Collective, which was commissioned by the Waterfront Business Improvement Area (BIA) in partnership with the City of Toronto, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to produce this film, worked closely with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations Knowledge Keepers, Darin Wybenga and Margaret Sault, to develop this piece.

The film aims to share the perspective of the Mississaugas about the Toronto Islands as a significant, current and historic Indigenous place, and their recommendations on how the islands can be respected and enhanced through the master plan toward those ends.

The short film was premiered as a feature element of the Toronto Island Form II: Towards Belonging, on December 9, 2021, and later distributed on social media.

Project Team Members

Bawaadan Collective

-Yuma Dean Hester

-Ashley Maracle

-Alex Jacobs-Blum

Toronto Island Master Plan, Parks Forestry and Recreation, City of Toronto

-Lori Ellis

-David O’Hara

-Pablo Muñoz