EUC Seminar Series 2021/22 – Polishing the Chain: Treaty Relations in Toronto

In this seminar, “The Forgotten Promise of Niagara,” speakers will discuss the 1764 Treaty of Niagara as the foundational agreement between the Crown and the Anishinaabek, and a moment of renewal of the foundational Covenant Chain or Two Row Wampum between the Haudenosaunee and Crown. Here the 1763 Royal Proclamation, which announced British arrival and supposed sovereignty in the region, was transformed by Indigenous partners as it was adopted as treaty. Many see Niagara as a constitutional moment anchored in Indigenous and British legal traditions. British promises at Niagara included recognition of Indigenous title and sovereignty, and an on-going commitment to peaceful coexistence and trade for mutual benefit. Indigenous peoples would never sink into poverty. Importantly, The Treaty of Niagara is a foundational context for all subsequent agreements Indigenous nations made with the Crown. In this talk, speakers will explore the significance of this agreement and how (or if) implementing Niagara could contribute towards decolonization and Indigenous calls for Land Back.

Our speakers include:

• Dr. Hayden King, Executive Director, Yellowhead Institute
• Dr. Eva Jewel, Research Director, Yellowhead Institute
• Vanessa Dion-Fletcher, Artist

This event on Monday, January 31 at 12:30 p.m. is the fourth seminar in the Polishing the Chain, 2021-2022 EUC Seminar Series. Polishing the Chain is exploring the spirit and intent of Toronto treaties, the ways Indigenous peoples have and continue to uphold them, the extent to which they are reflected in contemporary Indigenous / state relations, and the possibilities these open for working towards conciliation and establishing right relations with each other, and the Land.

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-forgotten-promise-of-niagara-tickets-244672491007

Presented by EUC with York’s Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages, Dr. Deborah McGregor’s Indigenous Environmental Project, and Jumblies Theatre & Art’s Talking Treaties; and with support from the Toronto Biennial of Art, Vice-President Research & Innovation, the Indigenous Teaching and Learning Fund, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University Faculty Association – Community Projects and Lisa Myer’s York Research Chair in Indigenous Curatorial Practice.