June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada, and we will be exploring stories relating to Indigenous history in this series throughout the month.

Beginning in 1968, several friendship agreements have been signed between the Town (and later the City) of Mississauga and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. The first such promise of friendship was signed on July 20, 1968 at New Credit as part of the “Mississauga Day” celebration in recognition of the newly formed and named Town of Mississauga.

The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation invited council members and residents from the Town of Mississauga to the New Credit Reserve for a gathering, community picnic and games. The Mayor and Council of the Town of Mississauga presented a scroll to Chief Fred King granting the “Honorary Freedom of the Town” to the Council and Members of the “Mississaugas of the New Credit Reserve” and was ”evidence of the desire by the town to develop a bond of affection and regard with the descendants of the (Indigenous) inhabitants of this area, from whence the name originated.” This 1968 “promise” was signed by Mayor Robert Speck and Chief Fred King.

Flash forward to 1979. The Town of Mississauga had become the City of Mississauga in 1974, and since 1974 several festivities had celebrated the city, including City Days, Cityfest, Mississauga Community Festival, Fritterfest, and beginning in 1982, the Rainbow Festival. 1979 was also declared as the International Year of the Child by the United Nations. Connecting to the community festival and the International Year of the Child observances, the City of Mississauga, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the local school boards signed a “Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation” in recognition of a “common heritage on the banks of the Credit River.” This “treaty” was signed on September 29, 1979 at Port Credit Memorial Park. Signatories included City of Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Chief Fred King, members of both communities and representatives from the school boards. The intent of the “treaty” was to “form a new bond of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation … this we do as a world community of Peace People to be known as the Rainbow Tribe of the Credit and Mississauga.” It is this reference to the “Rainbow Tribe” in 1979 that would lead a few years later to the rebranding as the Rainbow Festival, which ran between 1982 and 1986.

In 2005 a new “Friendship Treaty” was signed during the Maanjidowin gathering at Saddington Park in Port Credit. The gathering was organized by Heritage Mississauga, and the “treaty” was signed between Mayor McCallion and Chief Bryan LaForme and included youth from both the City of Mississauga and New Credit. It reaffirmed “our spirit of friendship, cooperation and goodwill.” Signed on August 6, 2005, it pledged “continued cooperation and friendship and to honouring our responsibility to foster awareness and understanding of our shared heritage for future generations.”

The common thread between the three friendship agreements (1968, 1979 and 2005) is to continue to foster a spirit of friendship and cooperation between the residents of the City of Mississauga and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and in doing so, reaffirm the acknowledgement that the land on which the City of Mississauga stands today is part of the traditional and treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This understanding of historic and geographic context, treaty obligations, and name origins has certainly evolved over the decades, and helps to guide the actions and deeds that form the basis of the City of Mississauga’s land acknowledgment today:

We acknowledge the lands which constitute the present-day City of Mississauga as being part of the Treaty and Traditional Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and The Huron-Wendat and Wyandot Nations. We recognize these peoples and their ancestors as peoples who inhabited these lands since time immemorial. The City of Mississauga is home to many global Indigenous peoples.

As a municipality, the City of Mississauga is actively working towards Reconciliation by confronting our past and our present, providing space for Indigenous peoples within their territory, to recognize and uphold their Treaty Rights and to support Indigenous peoples. We formally recognize the Anishinaabe origins of our name and continue to make Mississauga a safe space for all Indigenous peoples.

The City of Mississauga, in collaboration with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, will host a National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration on Saturday, June 21, starting at 5:00 pm at Celebration Square.

There are also numerous resources available to learn about Indigenous history and cultures, one of which is here.