The City of Kingston acknowledges that we are on the traditional homeland of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat, and thank these nations for their care and stewardship over this shared land. 

Today, the City is committed to working with Indigenous peoples and all residents to pursue a united path of reconciliation. 

Overview

The region Kingston now occupies has been home to Indigenous People since time immemorial. Many different Nations and people have existed or co-existed in this area over time and, today, it is home to growing urban population of over 7,000 residents who identify as First Nations, Inuit or Metis. 

In recent years, the City of Kingston has been more purposeful in engaging with the Indigenous People associated with the Kingston region.  At its core is the desire to establish respectful relations with Indigenous People who not only have historical ties to Kingston but who also have strong connections to this community today. 

History of settlement across the area

The history of Indigenous People in this region is complex and pre-dates how we think of geography today in terms of regional, provincial or national boundary lines that exist today. 

What is known is that communities of Late Woodland people (approximately 1200 to 1450) and the St. Lawrence Iroquois (16th century) were known to occupy this region and later developed or merged into their modern descendant First Nations.  When the first Europeans began to arrive in the 17th century, the north shore of Lake Ontario and the area originally known as Katarokwi had continued to provide a home base for the Huron-Wendat Peoples and the Five Nations/St. Lawrence Iroquois.  In the Mohawk language, the name Katarokwi means a place where there is clay or where the limestone is.  The Algonquin term Cataracoui means great meeting place and was translated by the French into Cataraqui that can be found all over Kingston today. 

In the late 17th century, various families of Seneca, Cayuga and Mohawk ancestry had established communities at both the western and eastern ends of Lake Ontario and at various spots heading east up the shores of the St. Lawrence River.  At the same time—as French traders, military personnel and settlers made their way west across the region—they aligned themselves with many of the Algonquin and Huron traders they first encountered along the St. Lawrence River, the northern shores of Lake Ontario and various inland waterways.  During a similar period of time the Five Nations Confederacy aligned themselves with the British and helped to overrun many of the French, Huron and Anishinaabe settlements along the lower St. Lawrence and Great Lakes waterway. 

The Mississauga who had established a community in the region in the early 18th century ceded Katarokwi and the surrounding territory to the British crown in 1783 with the signing of the Crawford Purchase.  It was at this time that Sir William Johnson's consort, Molly Brant, a Mohawk woman of distinction and exemplary speaker in multiple languages, negotiated the safe passage and land acquisition for the Mohawks from the Mohawk Valley to Kingston across to Deseronto. Molly Brant, the sister of the Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant (who established the Six Nations of Brantford), was a resident of Kingston until her passing in 1796 and was buried at St. Paul's Church on Queen at Bagot Streets. 

During the American Revolution, the United Empire Loyalists and Mohawk warriors shared a desire to move peacefully into British Upper Canada territory and continued to trade with the Iroquois Confederacy and Anishinaabe in and around Katarokwi.  Market Square, behind what is now Kingston City Hall was the main trading location where food stuffs (especially rice), tobacco and hides exchanged hands between First Peoples, the United Empire Loyalists and other recent immigrants to the established British Colony of Upper Canada right up until modern times. 

Recognition Statement

On June 22, 2015, The City of Kingston approved for the first time a Recognition Statement to be read at the beginning of each Council Meeting and on other ceremonial occasions.  This Recognition Statement was drafted in consultation with the Indigenous community to be offered at the beginning of a gathering as a way of saying “welcome and thank you for coming”.  It represents just one of a series of separate, yet related initiatives that have been pursued in recent years out of a desire to acknowledge and strengthen relations with Indigenous people at a local level. 

• She:kon [Say go: Mohawk word for hello] 
• Aanii [A knee: Algonquin word for hello] 
• Boozhoo [Boo ju: Ojibway word for hello] 
• Waychaya [Wa chay ya: Cree word for hello] 
• Kwey Kwey [Kway Kway: Oji-Cree word for hello] 
• Tawnshi [Tawn she: Métis word for hello] 

“I offer these words in the spirit of this gathering. Let us bring our good minds and hearts together as one, to honour and celebrate these traditional lands as a gathering place of the Original Peoples and their Ancestors who were entrusted to care for Mother Earth since time immemorial. It is with deep humility, that we acknowledge and offer our gratitude for their contributions to this community, having respect for all as we share this space now and walk side-by-side into the future.” 

Engage for Change: #YGK Reconciliation Journey

Engage for Change is a multi-phase project that seeks to re-frame the relationship between Indigenous People and non-Indigenous people in Kingston, especially as it relates to history, knowledge and culture.  Currently, the project is in its third phase of development and work is expected to be complete early in 2022. 

Learn More

• Engage for Change Website/Calendar
• Engage for Change video series
• Alderville Commemoration Project
• Your Stories, Our Histories
• Actions in Response to the Legacy of Sir. John A. Macdonald