There’s a new reason to go down to Fort York: a speakers series about Toronto in Toronto. The first event is on Monday evening.
WHAT: Parler Fort– When the Landlords Became Tenants — The 1828 Council at Fort York with the Mississauga
WHERE: Fort York
WHEN: Monday September 27, 7:30PM
HOW MUCH: $10
On 30 January 1828, three leading Mississauga chiefs – Ajetance from the Credit River to the west of York; Sunday from the Bay of Quinte to the east; and Paudash from Rice Lake to the northeast – met in Council at Fort York. The ‘Indian Agent’ quickly came to the point. Bluntly, he informed the Mississauga that, contrary to the Mississaugas’ own understanding, the British now owned the land on which their communities stood. This was a mere 14 years after the War of 1812-14 during which the Mississauga served as British allies.
In his illustrated talk Donald Smith, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Calgary and the author of Sacred Feathers (University of Toronto Press), a biography of Mississauga chief Peter Jones, will review the history of the Mississauga in the early and mid-19th century. Peter Jones’s minutes of the 1828 Fort York Council provide the starting point for his illustrated talk.
Responding to Professor Smith’s presentation will be a review of the 180 years of Mississauga history since 1828 by community historian Margaret Sault and an introduction by community leaders Carolyn King and Chief Bryan LaForme to today’s Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. The recent settlement of the Toronto Purchase Claim signals a productive new era in Toronto’s relationship with the First Nations of this area.
Photo by jennyrotten.
