Introduction: Nanda Kinomaagewin (Seeking Learning/Education)
The purpose of this website is to introduce you to the rich history of Indigenous cultures that defines this land in southwestern Ontario and Huron County. I am extremely grateful for the collaborative learning experience that Ruth Gibson, Ralph Blasting, and I went through over the course of the spring and summer of 2022.
The land base of Huron County was and is an important route that connects the traditional territories of the Saugeen Anishinabek to the north and the southern Anishinaabeg territories at Walpole Island, Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Sarnia, and the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point. Huron County and the Bayfield Historical Society (BHS) are both situated on a portion of the surrendered treaty lands of the Huron Tract Treaty #29.
All histories have a point of view. Although based on extensive research, these web pages offer my perspective, as a resident and member of the Kettle & Stony Point First Nation, of Indigenous culture in this area prior to the time of permanent European settlements in the early 1800s. The early treaties in more eastern portions of North America and agreements with the French and British beginning in the 1600s have obviously had a major impact on First Nations perception and reality in a broad portion of the southwestern Ontario region. Although the facts are far more than the simple word-for-word text on the treaties (which are greatly important), the spirit and intent of the “pre-confederate” treaties are still slowly being understood and are of equal weight to the text. Our focus, however, is on the Indigenous peoples who lived here and how they lived. Each section has its own topic. You may look at them in sequence (following the Next Section buttons at the bottom of each page) or click to the ones that interest you most (by scrolling through the list of sections at the bottom of this page). If you have 20 minutes to read along, I’ll share with you a story that may stay with you always.
R. Jordan George (Mahkahday Migizii-Black Eagle), Kettle & Stony Point First Nation, September 2022
Sources
Ray, Randy. “A Look Back: Portraits of Potawatomi believed to be from early 19th century.” South Bend Tribune.7 April 2019. https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2019/04/07/a-look-back-portraits-of-potawatomi-believed-to-be-from-early-19th-century/46361731/
Trigger, Bruce. The children of Aataentsic a History of the Huron people to 1660. 2 vols. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1987.
Trigger, Bruce. Natives and Newcomers: Canadas “Historic age” Reconsidered. Mc-Gill- Queen’s University Press, 1985.
VanSanden. Portrait of the Potawatomi Chief Topinabee by VanSanden, Northern Illinois Historical Society. See Ray, Randy.