I want to tell you about the Voices of Freedom Park in my small town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. It’s one of my favourite places to reflect and remember. There are benches that invite sitting amidst the gardens and sculptures.
This town has had Black residents (enslaved and free) since the 1780s and it’s also where the first anti-slavery legislation was introduced in the British Empire. Enslaved people were brought by United Empire Loyalists who settled in the area after the American Revolution. There were also Black Loyalists who fought with the British and received freedom and land in exchange. In the early 1800’s, there was a “coloured village” here and the properties across the street from where I live now were part of that village.
This Black history has often been excluded from the history of the town. The intent of the park, dedicated in 2017, is on righting this wrong and giving voice to those excluded. One of those voices is that of an enslaved woman, named Chloe Cooley. On March 14, 1793, her owner forcibly transported her across the Niagara River to sell her. The Executive Council of the Legislative Assembly heard eyewitness accounts that Chloe was violently screaming and resisting. Her screams jolted the conscience of the community and served as a catalyst for the Governor-General and Attorney General to introduce legislation to abolish slavery.
The act, introduced on On July 9th, 1793, did not free any existing enslaved people, but it prevented the importation of new slaves and allowed for gradual abolition. It also set the stage for the Underground Railroad coming north into Canada. While Chloe Cooley was not heard from again, this act might not have passed without her resistance.
This is just one of several stories told. It, as well as the others, inspire me today.
I live in northwest Mexico, along the Baja coast on land that was home to the Kumeyaah people. The Kumeyaah are part of the Yuman language group that lived along the southern California coast and into the southern area of Arizona. They continue to live on several small reservations in some of the interior areas of Baja. Rancho La Bufadora, where I built my home, is adjacent to one of the largest sea geysers in the world, a popular tourist destination. La Bufadora (the blowhole) is in the California floristic, Mediterranean climactic region. It rarely freezes and is an arid area with draught tolerant vegetation bursting in green and yellow with just a bit of rain. I have a deep interest in nature studies and the time to dabble in gardening, photography and other contemplative practices. Kim’s programs resonate with my world view and I enjoy her reading selections and reflections.
Sounds beautiful and peaceful! Living there sounds like paradise with many different opportunities! I have difficulty being inspired by my area in the Midwest, even though I know beauty can be found anywhere. Thanks for sharing Jerry!
Last week I investigated the geological history of our community, with particular attention to rock. I spent time along what’s known as the Don Valley, which includes the Don River. The Don Valley formed about 12,000 years ago at the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation, a period that lasted for 35,000 years, during which all of Ontario was covered in ice.
Part of my walkable/bikeable ’15-minute city’ that I’ve been exploring over the past couple of weeks is known as the Don Valley. For the past couple of weeks I’ve wandered near the lower Don, which is being ‘rehabilitated.’ Through Seeing Place I’ve had the opportunity to learn a bit about the oldest inhabitants of my neighbourhood
I’m aware of several sites around Toronto that revealed evidence of villages. While there is little archaeological evidence in the Don valley itself, other local evidence shows that began to settle here about 6,000 years ago, first as nomadic hunters.
My neighbourhood sits on what has been the ancestral land of various indigenous peoples who would hunt, fish, trade, and harvest wild rice along the Don River just east and down the valley from today’s Cabbagetown.
The name Toronto comes from the Mohawk word tkaronto, meaning "trees standing in water" — a reference to ancient fishing weirs that I now imagine being used in the Don River.
The Indigenous groups that called the Don Valley home were drawn in by the value of the Don Valley waterway. The lower Don river teemed with salmon, with water flowing through wide marshes and up against banks lined with trees. Migrating ducks used to frequent the area in the spring and the fall.
The most significant recorded find in my neighbourhood is known as 'Withrow Site,’ a hill used for campsites by generations of Native People as it provided an excellent lookout over the Don River Valley for observing game. It was discovered in 1886 during road building near Riverdale Park East (which is by our home). The remains of 30 people were apparently buried in one area, and more in another. A newspaper story I found says they discovered a handful of artifacts including a stone axe, chisel and knife and pottery fragments. One slate spearhead dates back 4,000 years.
According to a Toronto heritage landscape guide, Pottery becgan to make an appearance after 1,000 BC, using local clay deposits. Huron Wendat longhouse villages were developed along the river starting in 1300 when corn became a staple food.
The first European house was built in the area in the late 1700s. I’ll leave the conversation of how subsequent settlement has shaped my neighbourhood for another time, other than to note that after the founding of York in 1793, several mills were constructed along the lower Don. These mills initially turned out lumber, flour and paper products. By the 1850s, there were more than 50 mills along the Don and its tributaries. The Lower Don was becoming an industrial setting. Petroleum storage facilities, poultry and pork processing plants were constructed along the banks of the Don. In 1879, the Don Valley Brick Works opened, and provided most of the bricks used in my neighbourhood’s buildings. Effluent from these factories and the growing city nearby was turning the Don and its marshy mouth into a polluted hazard.
Why mention this in conjunction with indigenous history? Because with the channeling of the Don River in the 1890s, subsequent flooding over the past hundred years, and the construction of the Don Valley Parkway system in the 1950-60s, indigenous site locations in this area are now impossible to identify.
Most of the artifacts that have been discovered in the area, particularly those from the Withrow Site, are now at the Royal Ontario Museum. I’ll be checking them out as soon as it reopens.
So, I’ve learned about Indigenous people who lived in the area prior to colonial settlement. I’m told that there are almost 47,000 Indigenous people living in greater Toronto. Their stories are something for me to learn about as well, as are stories of others who have lived in my neighbourhood post-colonialization. Our own home was once a rooming house with a past and stories to tell. One step at a time.
Our land acknowledgement says,
“We acknowledge the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit
We recognize that indigenous peoples inhabited these lands long before colonization and little of this history is known, told, or honoured. We are committed to learning more and bringing light to the past and present contributions and the connections indigenous peoples have to this land.”
So interesting what you’ve discovered and the connections you’re making. Here in Niagara archaeologists are always finding things from the past underground. It makes me think differently of the ground beneath my feet when I’m walking.
What a wonderful educational and learning experience you created for yourself! Your community and neighborhood will never look and feel the same! You have created much depth to your experience of seeing. I am very happy for you Tim!! Thanks for sharing your awareness and seeing!
I am blind. I can only see houses, trees, cars, snow, and a few people in the IL winter.
Thanks, Shanara. I think I’ve been blind too. I’ve been thinking about people living in my neighbourhood for thousands of years, and leaving little behind.
I’m a bit arrogant and at one time I wouldn’t think much of that culture: no aqueducts, no road systems, no temples no evidence of … much of anything. What they built, they built out of wood, and it eventually goes back to the earth.
Now I’m starting to think: how cool is that, people who lived here for thousands of years and left the place clean and tidy for whoever comes next.
It’s a shift to think that ‘treading lightly’ has advantages for everyone.
Thanks for your comment Timothy! Yes, thinking back and thinking ahead are both important. I appreciate your wisdom Timothy, you helped me think/feel deeper! Feeling gratitude to the people who lived before us is important, I agree. We all need one another, treading lightly shows gratitude. We need to feel a bonding with Earth and with others, caring for both, doing something that makes a difference, while feeling a connection. If we don't feel a connection we don't care. Concrete builds walls, making it hard to see, feel, and care. Kids experience Nature Deficit Disorder way too often now, and adults also!
Kim, I have no interest in the history of my place. I am blocked from doing this assignment. Chicago area is the last place we wanted to live. Wheaton, IL has no appeal to me as a place to explore! I am a curious person, but not about Wheaton, IL. The West was our draw when my husband was feeling better, with out kids, and the Boundary Waters of MN. Never to return there again. I feel no sense of adventure and exploration now. Maybe family health problems/other issues , Mayo Clinic visit, block the view, along with the icy temperatures. I tried to get excited about the history here, but nothing happened. I never enjoyed history in school, it was boring to me. Your class is fantastic, very well organized and researched, as all your classes!!! I kept ALL the note books I made from ALL your classes!!! It is me, just not feeling any connection with the place where I live. Your class is WONDERFUL! Thank you!
Hi Sharana, I hear you. I didn’t like history as a kid either, and I can understand that family health issues are affecting your interest too.
The only assignment was to find a land acknowledgement. I suggest you read the short piece below and just remember those who came before. There’s a clue in this piece that you’ll want to come back to for next week’s practice.
Thanks Kim, this is perfect to read and reflect upon! I am looking forward to it!! I printed it out. Thanks for your comment and understanding, and about not liking history! I genuinely feel much gratitude for those who came before us! Their work and creativity helped us have a better life. There is a quote at the Chicago Field History Museum I copied about the importance of creativity through the years. The groups and individuals who were the most creative survived.
I like this quote from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, "Without the cameras, the glaciers would have no voice. And we would have no memory of landscapes that had disappeared." James Balog.
Thank you for your inspiration! I am looking forward to photographing the Prairie Burn at Morton Arboretum in March. I need to take a 2 day course in February, and pass the Final Exam. It is designed for the Burn Crew, not for photographers. I am not the best test taker. This class encouraged me to sign up, I would not have signed up without your class.
Jan 24, 2022·edited Jan 24, 2022Liked by Kim Manley Ort
Thanks for the Land Acknowledgment at Morton Arboretum in IL. You are clever to find this article. Thinking about both the oldest trees and the oldest indigenous peoples in this area is really a different way to view the area!! The commitment to action is a calling. I appreciated "recognizing the land shows gratitude and is a way of honoring the indigenous peoples who have lived and worked on the land, generation after generation." with M.A. Now I wonder more deeply about the Arboretum!I found a fascinating article on "How Native Americans Used Fire to Protect and Cultivate Land" with History Stories.
"Anthropologist have identified at least 70 different uses of fire amount indigenous and aboriginal peoples, including clearing travel routes, long distance signaling, reducing pest populations, and hunting." This was fun reading and informative reading!
I want to tell you about the Voices of Freedom Park in my small town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. It’s one of my favourite places to reflect and remember. There are benches that invite sitting amidst the gardens and sculptures.
This town has had Black residents (enslaved and free) since the 1780s and it’s also where the first anti-slavery legislation was introduced in the British Empire. Enslaved people were brought by United Empire Loyalists who settled in the area after the American Revolution. There were also Black Loyalists who fought with the British and received freedom and land in exchange. In the early 1800’s, there was a “coloured village” here and the properties across the street from where I live now were part of that village.
This Black history has often been excluded from the history of the town. The intent of the park, dedicated in 2017, is on righting this wrong and giving voice to those excluded. One of those voices is that of an enslaved woman, named Chloe Cooley. On March 14, 1793, her owner forcibly transported her across the Niagara River to sell her. The Executive Council of the Legislative Assembly heard eyewitness accounts that Chloe was violently screaming and resisting. Her screams jolted the conscience of the community and served as a catalyst for the Governor-General and Attorney General to introduce legislation to abolish slavery.
The act, introduced on On July 9th, 1793, did not free any existing enslaved people, but it prevented the importation of new slaves and allowed for gradual abolition. It also set the stage for the Underground Railroad coming north into Canada. While Chloe Cooley was not heard from again, this act might not have passed without her resistance.
This is just one of several stories told. It, as well as the others, inspire me today.
https://www.vofpark.org/
I live in northwest Mexico, along the Baja coast on land that was home to the Kumeyaah people. The Kumeyaah are part of the Yuman language group that lived along the southern California coast and into the southern area of Arizona. They continue to live on several small reservations in some of the interior areas of Baja. Rancho La Bufadora, where I built my home, is adjacent to one of the largest sea geysers in the world, a popular tourist destination. La Bufadora (the blowhole) is in the California floristic, Mediterranean climactic region. It rarely freezes and is an arid area with draught tolerant vegetation bursting in green and yellow with just a bit of rain. I have a deep interest in nature studies and the time to dabble in gardening, photography and other contemplative practices. Kim’s programs resonate with my world view and I enjoy her reading selections and reflections.
Sounds beautiful and peaceful! Living there sounds like paradise with many different opportunities! I have difficulty being inspired by my area in the Midwest, even though I know beauty can be found anywhere. Thanks for sharing Jerry!
Last week I investigated the geological history of our community, with particular attention to rock. I spent time along what’s known as the Don Valley, which includes the Don River. The Don Valley formed about 12,000 years ago at the end of the Wisconsin Glaciation, a period that lasted for 35,000 years, during which all of Ontario was covered in ice.
Part of my walkable/bikeable ’15-minute city’ that I’ve been exploring over the past couple of weeks is known as the Don Valley. For the past couple of weeks I’ve wandered near the lower Don, which is being ‘rehabilitated.’ Through Seeing Place I’ve had the opportunity to learn a bit about the oldest inhabitants of my neighbourhood
I’m aware of several sites around Toronto that revealed evidence of villages. While there is little archaeological evidence in the Don valley itself, other local evidence shows that began to settle here about 6,000 years ago, first as nomadic hunters.
My neighbourhood sits on what has been the ancestral land of various indigenous peoples who would hunt, fish, trade, and harvest wild rice along the Don River just east and down the valley from today’s Cabbagetown.
The name Toronto comes from the Mohawk word tkaronto, meaning "trees standing in water" — a reference to ancient fishing weirs that I now imagine being used in the Don River.
The Indigenous groups that called the Don Valley home were drawn in by the value of the Don Valley waterway. The lower Don river teemed with salmon, with water flowing through wide marshes and up against banks lined with trees. Migrating ducks used to frequent the area in the spring and the fall.
The most significant recorded find in my neighbourhood is known as 'Withrow Site,’ a hill used for campsites by generations of Native People as it provided an excellent lookout over the Don River Valley for observing game. It was discovered in 1886 during road building near Riverdale Park East (which is by our home). The remains of 30 people were apparently buried in one area, and more in another. A newspaper story I found says they discovered a handful of artifacts including a stone axe, chisel and knife and pottery fragments. One slate spearhead dates back 4,000 years.
According to a Toronto heritage landscape guide, Pottery becgan to make an appearance after 1,000 BC, using local clay deposits. Huron Wendat longhouse villages were developed along the river starting in 1300 when corn became a staple food.
The first European house was built in the area in the late 1700s. I’ll leave the conversation of how subsequent settlement has shaped my neighbourhood for another time, other than to note that after the founding of York in 1793, several mills were constructed along the lower Don. These mills initially turned out lumber, flour and paper products. By the 1850s, there were more than 50 mills along the Don and its tributaries. The Lower Don was becoming an industrial setting. Petroleum storage facilities, poultry and pork processing plants were constructed along the banks of the Don. In 1879, the Don Valley Brick Works opened, and provided most of the bricks used in my neighbourhood’s buildings. Effluent from these factories and the growing city nearby was turning the Don and its marshy mouth into a polluted hazard.
Why mention this in conjunction with indigenous history? Because with the channeling of the Don River in the 1890s, subsequent flooding over the past hundred years, and the construction of the Don Valley Parkway system in the 1950-60s, indigenous site locations in this area are now impossible to identify.
Most of the artifacts that have been discovered in the area, particularly those from the Withrow Site, are now at the Royal Ontario Museum. I’ll be checking them out as soon as it reopens.
So, I’ve learned about Indigenous people who lived in the area prior to colonial settlement. I’m told that there are almost 47,000 Indigenous people living in greater Toronto. Their stories are something for me to learn about as well, as are stories of others who have lived in my neighbourhood post-colonialization. Our own home was once a rooming house with a past and stories to tell. One step at a time.
Our land acknowledgement says,
“We acknowledge the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit
We recognize that indigenous peoples inhabited these lands long before colonization and little of this history is known, told, or honoured. We are committed to learning more and bringing light to the past and present contributions and the connections indigenous peoples have to this land.”
So interesting what you’ve discovered and the connections you’re making. Here in Niagara archaeologists are always finding things from the past underground. It makes me think differently of the ground beneath my feet when I’m walking.
What a wonderful educational and learning experience you created for yourself! Your community and neighborhood will never look and feel the same! You have created much depth to your experience of seeing. I am very happy for you Tim!! Thanks for sharing your awareness and seeing!
I am blind. I can only see houses, trees, cars, snow, and a few people in the IL winter.
Thanks, Shanara. I think I’ve been blind too. I’ve been thinking about people living in my neighbourhood for thousands of years, and leaving little behind.
I’m a bit arrogant and at one time I wouldn’t think much of that culture: no aqueducts, no road systems, no temples no evidence of … much of anything. What they built, they built out of wood, and it eventually goes back to the earth.
Now I’m starting to think: how cool is that, people who lived here for thousands of years and left the place clean and tidy for whoever comes next.
It’s a shift to think that ‘treading lightly’ has advantages for everyone.
Thanks for your comment Timothy! Yes, thinking back and thinking ahead are both important. I appreciate your wisdom Timothy, you helped me think/feel deeper! Feeling gratitude to the people who lived before us is important, I agree. We all need one another, treading lightly shows gratitude. We need to feel a bonding with Earth and with others, caring for both, doing something that makes a difference, while feeling a connection. If we don't feel a connection we don't care. Concrete builds walls, making it hard to see, feel, and care. Kids experience Nature Deficit Disorder way too often now, and adults also!
Kim, I have no interest in the history of my place. I am blocked from doing this assignment. Chicago area is the last place we wanted to live. Wheaton, IL has no appeal to me as a place to explore! I am a curious person, but not about Wheaton, IL. The West was our draw when my husband was feeling better, with out kids, and the Boundary Waters of MN. Never to return there again. I feel no sense of adventure and exploration now. Maybe family health problems/other issues , Mayo Clinic visit, block the view, along with the icy temperatures. I tried to get excited about the history here, but nothing happened. I never enjoyed history in school, it was boring to me. Your class is fantastic, very well organized and researched, as all your classes!!! I kept ALL the note books I made from ALL your classes!!! It is me, just not feeling any connection with the place where I live. Your class is WONDERFUL! Thank you!
Hi Sharana, I hear you. I didn’t like history as a kid either, and I can understand that family health issues are affecting your interest too.
The only assignment was to find a land acknowledgement. I suggest you read the short piece below and just remember those who came before. There’s a clue in this piece that you’ll want to come back to for next week’s practice.
https://mortonarb.org/about-arboretum/inclusion/land-acknowledgment/
Thanks Kim, this is perfect to read and reflect upon! I am looking forward to it!! I printed it out. Thanks for your comment and understanding, and about not liking history! I genuinely feel much gratitude for those who came before us! Their work and creativity helped us have a better life. There is a quote at the Chicago Field History Museum I copied about the importance of creativity through the years. The groups and individuals who were the most creative survived.
I like this quote from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, "Without the cameras, the glaciers would have no voice. And we would have no memory of landscapes that had disappeared." James Balog.
Thank you for your inspiration! I am looking forward to photographing the Prairie Burn at Morton Arboretum in March. I need to take a 2 day course in February, and pass the Final Exam. It is designed for the Burn Crew, not for photographers. I am not the best test taker. This class encouraged me to sign up, I would not have signed up without your class.
There may be a connection between the current prairie burn and Indigenous communities, who were known for doing regular burns.
Interesting, I will research this, and ask in my 2 day class! Thank you for the information!
Thanks for the Land Acknowledgment at Morton Arboretum in IL. You are clever to find this article. Thinking about both the oldest trees and the oldest indigenous peoples in this area is really a different way to view the area!! The commitment to action is a calling. I appreciated "recognizing the land shows gratitude and is a way of honoring the indigenous peoples who have lived and worked on the land, generation after generation." with M.A. Now I wonder more deeply about the Arboretum!I found a fascinating article on "How Native Americans Used Fire to Protect and Cultivate Land" with History Stories.
https://www.history.com/news/native-american-wildfires
"Anthropologist have identified at least 70 different uses of fire amount indigenous and aboriginal peoples, including clearing travel routes, long distance signaling, reducing pest populations, and hunting." This was fun reading and informative reading!
Love the connections you’re making. This will give more meaning to photographing the present day burn.