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A Treaty Guide for Torontonians
Part of Jumblies Theatre & Arts’s multi-year Talking Treaties project, A Treaty Guide for Torontonians is an artful examination of the complex intercultural roots of treaty relationships in the place we now call Toronto. Scholarly and historical research is complemented by outdoor activities, theatrical pursuits and contemporary writing prompts that help readers explore the modern-day subjective and physical embodiment of treaty relations. This combination of art-based research and Toronto specific knowledge inspires an active approach to treaty awareness through embodied learning tools.
Beginning with Indigenous treaty-making principles expressed in early inter-Indigenous and intercultural alliances such as the Two Row Wampum/Covenant Chain, the Wendat-Algonquian-French alliance, and the Dish With One Spoon agreement, we strive to provide a rich historical and cultural context. Local narratives carry us through the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the 1764 Treaty of Niagara, which together constitute the legal and ethical foundation for Indigenous / non-Indigenous relations across the Great Lakes region. Together, they underpin later Upper Canada land cession agreements, including the so-called Toronto Purchase of 1787 and its confirmation in 1805, as well as the land claims process that resulted in the 2010 settlement of the Toronto Purchase specific claim in favour of the Mississaugas of the Credit.
The publication illustrates the importance of visual and symbolic languages, mnemonic practices, and personal relationship to the documentation presented, complemented by lush illustration; exciting the readers’ curiosity, engaging their senses and imagination, and encouraging them to rethink historic, current, and future treaty relationships. We strove to build familiarity with the key agreements that underpin relations in Toronto today through accessible, memorable activations and shared performative experience.
An enriched and augmented digital version of A Treaty Guide will be made accessible to the general public in early fall 2022, featuring additional resources for high school, undergraduate, and community learners, including the 30-minute By These Presents: ‘Purchasing’ Toronto video and Dish Dances movement education video; links to additional historical resources and original documents; and interviews with Indigenous thought leaders.
Jumblies Theatre + Arts, the Toronto Biennial of Art, and the authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, York University’s Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada for the creation and publication of this book.
Beginning with Indigenous treaty-making principles expressed in early inter-Indigenous and intercultural alliances such as the Two Row Wampum/Covenant Chain, the Wendat-Algonquian-French alliance, and the Dish With One Spoon agreement, we strive to provide a rich historical and cultural context. Local narratives carry us through the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the 1764 Treaty of Niagara, which together constitute the legal and ethical foundation for Indigenous / non-Indigenous relations across the Great Lakes region. Together, they underpin later Upper Canada land cession agreements, including the so-called Toronto Purchase of 1787 and its confirmation in 1805, as well as the land claims process that resulted in the 2010 settlement of the Toronto Purchase specific claim in favour of the Mississaugas of the Credit.
The publication illustrates the importance of visual and symbolic languages, mnemonic practices, and personal relationship to the documentation presented, complemented by lush illustration; exciting the readers’ curiosity, engaging their senses and imagination, and encouraging them to rethink historic, current, and future treaty relationships. We strove to build familiarity with the key agreements that underpin relations in Toronto today through accessible, memorable activations and shared performative experience.
An enriched and augmented digital version of A Treaty Guide will be made accessible to the general public in early fall 2022, featuring additional resources for high school, undergraduate, and community learners, including the 30-minute By These Presents: ‘Purchasing’ Toronto video and Dish Dances movement education video; links to additional historical resources and original documents; and interviews with Indigenous thought leaders.
Jumblies Theatre + Arts, the Toronto Biennial of Art, and the authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, York University’s Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada for the creation and publication of this book.
180 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2022
1 person is currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Ange Loft
1 bookAnge Loft is a Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) interdisciplinary performing artist and initiator working in Tsi Tkarón:to. She is an ardent collaborator, consultant, and facilitator working in arts based research, wearable sculpture, theatrical co-creation and Haudenosaunee history.
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August 1, 2024
I was excited to get this book because it fills in a substantial gap in my understanding of the history of the city in which I live: Toronto. So often, the history we hear is the history of the settling of the area by Europeans, but, here, is a focus on the peoples who lived here before Europeans came. When that story is told, the history of Toronto (and of the rest of Canada) becomes much richer and more complicated.
The aim of this book is to chart the various treaties between the First Nations who lived in the Toronto area and between, first, the French and the Dutch, then the British. The story isn't a pretty one. From the disruption of the Wendat in the 17th century, to the proxy wars between the Haudenosaunee and the Anishinabek peoples, but, ultimately, to the various treaties, especially the Toronto Purchase, 'negotiated' with the British, the picture is disruption and, on the part of the settlers, dishonesty. The book charts this relationship, based on documents we have and the experience of the peoples living in this area and brings it up to date to chart the various efforts by, especially, the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Haudenosaunee to pursue their land and water claims.
As a teacher, I also appreciated the large numbers of activities ranging from field trips to activities which more vividly and physically bring the meaning of the Land we live in. That is, ultimately, the centre of this book- the Land, our relationship with the land, the peoples and non-humans in this place now. As someone about to teach the First Nations, Metis and Inuit Studies English course in the spring, those activities are a great source of ideas to link my students to their own city.
I would say anyone living in Toronto should read this book, if only to understand how we got this land that we live on and to appreciate the responsibilities that places on us. Very much work reading!
The aim of this book is to chart the various treaties between the First Nations who lived in the Toronto area and between, first, the French and the Dutch, then the British. The story isn't a pretty one. From the disruption of the Wendat in the 17th century, to the proxy wars between the Haudenosaunee and the Anishinabek peoples, but, ultimately, to the various treaties, especially the Toronto Purchase, 'negotiated' with the British, the picture is disruption and, on the part of the settlers, dishonesty. The book charts this relationship, based on documents we have and the experience of the peoples living in this area and brings it up to date to chart the various efforts by, especially, the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Haudenosaunee to pursue their land and water claims.
As a teacher, I also appreciated the large numbers of activities ranging from field trips to activities which more vividly and physically bring the meaning of the Land we live in. That is, ultimately, the centre of this book- the Land, our relationship with the land, the peoples and non-humans in this place now. As someone about to teach the First Nations, Metis and Inuit Studies English course in the spring, those activities are a great source of ideas to link my students to their own city.
I would say anyone living in Toronto should read this book, if only to understand how we got this land that we live on and to appreciate the responsibilities that places on us. Very much work reading!
Displaying 1 of 1 review