Treaties Recognition Week

This annual event honours the importance of Treaties and helps students and residents of Ontario learn more about Treaty rights and relationships. By learning more about our collective Treaty rights and obligations, we can create greater understanding and nurture relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Both Durham College campuses are located on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas, a branch of the Anishinaabeg Nation, which also includes Algonquin, Chippewa, Odawa, Ojibway and Pottawatomi.

The land is covered under the 1923 Williams treaties, a collection of three land acquisitions by the Government of Canada. The total acreage of the acquisition came to 12,944,400 total acres or 52,406 KM² spanning central and southern Ontario.

The Williams Treaty, 1923

• Began as a post-WWI initiative to “extinguish” land claims cases by Indigenous people against the Crown
• A.S. Williams, a Toronto Lawyer, led a commission to investigate then-70-year-old land claims by the Chippewa and Mississauga nations of the area
  • Determined the claims to be VALID
  • Determined the Crown should settle through reservation parcels of between 156,000-320,000 acres & payments of between $840k – $1.37 million ($14.7 million – $24.1 million today)
• The Crown itself valued the land at over $30 million ($527.6 million today), they were willing to pay only $50,000 ($879,300 today). The deal was rushed so the Indigenous peoples would not find out about the true value of the land.
• Unlike many previous treaties, the Williams Treaty did not secure hunting and fishing rights for the nations involved.
• Signatories included the Mississaugas of Rice Lake, Mud Lake, Scugog Lake, and Alderville and the Chippewas of Christian Island, Georgina Island, and Rama.