We are meeting on land that has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples since the ice receded 10,000 years ago. We thank all the generations of people who have taken care of this land. We acknowledge the traditional territories of the Attiwonderonk, Neutral, Iroquoian, Anishinabewaki, and Mississauga who have lived here during different periods. We appreciate their historic connection to this place. We also recognize the contributions that Métis, Inuit, and other Indigenous peoples have made to the country of Canada.
We are listening and learning from Indigenous people, leaders, Elders, and storykeepers. We encourage everyone to share their stories and history. We want to learn about our local history through an Indigenous lens. In addition to the Scottish settler history of our community, we want to learn the stories of all waves of settlers and immigrants. History for all. 10,000 years of history!
We honour the enduring legacy of the people who shaped this land. As the ice waters receded, the original inhabitants went beyond mere survival as hunters and gatherers, unveiling a profound understanding of ecological stewardship. We are learning more and more about how centuries of Indigenous generations survived, cultivated and nurtured the land, establishing a harmonious relationship with nature.
We acknowledge the Mound Builder culture, people who built permanent villages defended by earthworks. By the Late Woodland period around 1300 A.D., the landscape bore witness to the presence of the Attawandaron or Neutrals, diplomatic business people who traded with both the Hurons and the Iroquois.
Long before the colonists arrived, European diseases and local war claimed lives. Famine struck. The Neutrals, already weakened, their resilience tested, dwindled in number with remnants merging with surviving Hurons and Petuns to establish the Wyandot Nation in the west. We remember them.
Today, our Indigenous neighbours are the Deshkaan Ziibing Anishinaabeg (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation); two Lenape First Nations (People of the Delaware at Moraviantown and Munsee-Delaware Nation; and the Oneida Nation of the Thames (ONYOTA’A:KA, the People of the Standing Stone) .
We acknowledge that Glencoe and District is covered by Treaty 21, 1819 (Longwoods Treaty). We are part of the Thames River watershed also known as Deshkan Ziibi (“Antler River”) in the Ojibwe language. In 1793, Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe changed Deshkan Ziibi to the ‘Thames’, after the river in England.
We are learning more about what it means to live with integrity on Treaty Land. We commit to the teachings of the Two Row Wampum and the One Dish One Spoon Wampum. It is our duty to share the truth and reconcile, to create safe spaces for Indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives to meet and talk. We will work to support Indigenous-led healing. We are in solidarity with Indigenous folk.
And Now our Minds are One. The Haudenausaunee Thanksgiving