The land we know today as St. Catharines, Ward 4, and the wider Niagara Peninsula is the traditional territory of the Hatiwendaronk (also called the Attawandaron or Neutral Nation), the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Anishinaabe peoples — including the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, on whose treaty land we now live, work, and govern.
This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and is within the land protected by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Agreement, which obliges all who live here to share the resources of this place in peace, to take only what they need, and to leave enough for those who come after.
Many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people continue to live, work, and lead in Niagara today.
The Hatiwendaronk lived across the Niagara Peninsula for centuries before European contact, and were dispersed in the mid-1600s — more than a hundred years before European settlers arrived in significant numbers. Their absence from this place is not natural; it is the consequence of a colonial history that began long before the city of St. Catharines was ever named.
The Haudenosaunee returned permanently to the region in 1784 through the Haldimand Tract, granted in recognition of their alliance with the British during the American Revolutionary War. The Mississaugas of the Credit signed a series of treaties between 1781 and 1820 covering what is now the Golden Horseshoe — the land beneath every road, school, and home in this ward.
The treaties that shape this place are not historical artifacts. They are living agreements, and they bind the people who live here — including those of us whose families came generations later — to specific responsibilities.
The Dish With One Spoon Wampum was made between the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, committing both nations to share the resources of the territory peacefully. The dish represents the land. The single spoon — and the absence of any knife — means no violence at the table. Everyone eats from the same bowl, and everyone is responsible for keeping it full and clean for the next generation.
The Two Row Wampum (1613) recorded an agreement of peace, friendship, and mutual respect between the Haudenosaunee and European newcomers. Two parallel rows on a beaded belt, travelling the same river side by side, neither steering the other’s vessel.
The Treaty of Niagara (1764) brought together the Crown and twenty-four Indigenous nations and is considered foundational to all subsequent treaty relationships in this part of the country.
These agreements were not acts of generosity offered to settlers. They were the conditions under which non-Indigenous people were welcomed onto this land — and they have not expired.
A land acknowledgement that ends at acknowledgement is paper.
Municipal councillors are responsible for decisions about land. What gets built. What gets cleaned up. What gets protected. Who is consulted, and when. That responsibility does not begin at the moment of a vote — it begins with knowing whose land you are voting on, and what you owe to it.
If elected to represent Ward 4, I will:
This acknowledgement was written by me, a non-Indigenous candidate, and it is not a substitute for direct relationship with the Indigenous communities of Niagara. Before this page is finalized, I intend to share it with the Niagara Regional Native Centre and other community members for feedback, and to update it accordingly.
If you have suggestions, corrections, or context that should be added, please reach out directly.
For neighbours wanting to learn more or get involved, the Niagara Regional Native Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake is the urban Indigenous community hub for the region and a meaningful first point of contact.
The Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation also publish their own histories of this territory, and reading those histories from the source — rather than from settler summaries like this one — is the most respectful starting place.