Legacy of the Mississaugas

While Canadian historical accounts of the post-Revolutionary era often refer to purchases of Lake Ontario lands from the "Mississauga Indians," few details are given about the identity of this First Nations people. Although their surrender of territory on the north shore of Lake Ontario made way for unfettered Loyalist and European settlement - ultimately founding the economic heartland of a nation - their story remains largely untold.

The Mississaugas were an Algonkian people, aboriginal to the regions of Lake Huron and Lake Superior. In the 17th century, the prospect of trade led them south to confront the Iroquois. In 1673, in the Iroquois village of Gantsekwyagon at the mouth of the Rouge River (near the present-day city of Toronto), they established a trading agreement with their former enemies. The agreement would give the Algonkians access to the fur trade further south; it would also alarm and anger the French, who wished to discourage direct exchange between First Nations.

North Shore Arrival: By 1695, relations between the Algonkians and the Iroquois had deteriorated. The Algonkians, aware that the Iroquois had been weakened by a lingering war with the French, traveled south to Onodaga to officially declare that they had taken over the north shore of Lake Ontario (including the former Iroquois village at the Rouge River, which they renamed "Kanatiochtiage"). They also demanded an "open path" to the furs and goods of Albany. Their demands went unchallenged.

For the next 75 years, the independent and self-possessed Missisaugas, (as they were now known to the French), expanded their territory to include all of the northern Lake Ontario shoreline and part of the upper St. Lawrence River. By 1721, Mississaugas could be found near Fort Frontenac in the east and Fort Niagara in the west. Their economic and political allegiance was unpredictable; at various stages, they fought with and against the French, the English and the Iroquois.

Sad Surrender: The saga of the Mississauga's transfer of lands to the British government, following the American Revolution, is a story of trust that turned to disillusionment, and integrity that turned to exploitation. While a mutually acceptable agreement had been reached in the early 1780's for the sale of eastern Ontario Mississauga lands (including a township for the Bay of Quinte Mohawks), negotiations for property near the western end of the lake were far more protracted.

By 1796, the Mississaugas had become distrustful of the government, asserting that goods were still owing to them in exchange for the eastern land sales. They complained that they had also been treated with contempt by British administrators and that their chief, Wabukanyn, had been murdered in an altercation with a British soldier at York.

The Mississaugas were also aware that Mohawk leader Joseph Brant had been successful in selling Grand River territorial land to private buyers. Accordingly, they placed a fair market price on the western Lake Ontario lands still within their control. The Upper Canadian government, accustomed to earlier bargain property prices, refused to pay.

For almost 10 years, the government pressured the native land holders to sell cheaply, discouraging contact with Joseph Brant and threatening to reduce the flow of "gifts." Repeatedly, Brant intervened on their behalf, but to no avail. As Brant aged and withdrew from politics and young new chiefs took control, the government pressed their advantage. In 1805, the increasingly desperate and dependent Mississaugas sold their land, 32,389 hectares, for 2.5% of the actual market value. Their request to retain a square mile at each of the mouths of Twelve Mile Creek and Sixteen Mile Creek was denied.

When the last of the signatures had been placed on the historic "Toronto Purchase," ceding land from Etobicoke Creek to Burlington Bay, only one small patch of ground remained of the vast Lake Ontario territory that the Mississaugas had once controlled.