Indigenous Place Names in Toronto: Meanings and Origins

Several Toronto place names come from Indigenous languages, and the best-documented are Toronto itself, the Spadina and Davenport trails, the Don River’s older name Wonscotonach, and two names given in 2024 to the new island and park in the Port Lands, Ookwemin Minising and Biidaasige. The meanings of some names are still debated by language speakers, and spellings vary because Anishinaabemowin and Kanyen’kéha were written down by outsiders in many different ways.

This page does not repeat the debate over where the word Toronto comes from, which is set out on the page about the origin of the name Toronto. It concentrates on other names, and on how some are being restored or newly given.

Tkaronto

A University of Toronto New College land acknowledgment page, which cites the Myseum of Toronto, First Story Toronto, and other sources, gives the Kanyen’kéha (Mohawk) meaning as “the place in the water where the trees are standing.” It says the area was a trading hub where many Indigenous nations met long before European contact, and that the Credit, Rouge, Don, and Humber rivers connected it to inland communities. How that name moved to the lakeshore is part of the story of the Toronto Carrying Place.

Ishpadinaa and Gete-Onigaming

The New College page says Spadina comes from the Anishinaabemowin word Ishpandinaa, meaning a hill or sudden rise in the land. The English street name Spadina therefore preserves, in altered form, a word for the rise of land. The same page gives Gete-Onigaming as “the old portage,” a trail between the Don and Humber rivers that existed long before European contact, and identifies it with today’s Davenport Road. Anishinabek News reported in 2017 that Davenport and Spadina followed ancient Indigenous trails and that the two trails meet near Casa Loma.

Spelling differs between sources: Ishpadinaa and Ishpandinaa both appear. This variation is typical and does not mean one is a mistake.

Ogimaa Mikana and the 2016 signs

Anishinabek News reports that Ogimaa Mikana began in 2013 with Hayden King and Susan Blight and aims to restore Anishinaabemowin place names to streets, roads, paths, and trails in Toronto. The project first put up temporary street name stickers. In 2016, according to the same article, signs were installed at three corners: Spadina and Dupont, Spadina and Davenport, and Davenport and Dupont. Each keeps the official city street name, with the Anishinaabe name and a Thunderbird symbol on the top section. The article names the Dupont by the Castle Business Improvement Area as the sign owner and quotes the local councillor at the time, Joe Cressy, in support.

The signs do not change the legal names of the streets. The city’s official street names are covered on the Toronto street names page.

The Don River and Wonscotonach

The City of Toronto’s history page for Biidaasige Park states that John Simcoe named the Don River in 1793 after a river in England, and that the name Wonscotonach, recorded in Elizabeth Simcoe’s diary, may be an anglicized form of an Anishinaabe phrase, Waasayishkodenayosh. Indigenous communities, the City says, have discussed it as meaning either a river coming from the burnt back grounds or a bright, fire-lit point of land. The Don River Valley Park project gives a third wording, “burning bright point,” and suggests the name may refer to torchlight salmon spearing, noting that the Mississaugas of the Credit had a seasonal settlement on the river.

In April 2018, according to the same project, City Council directed staff to consult on naming the Lower Don parks and trails the Wonscotonach Parklands. A 2024 Council motion (MM24.45) records what followed: through language circles and pop-up consultations there was no clear consensus among Indigenous language speakers on the meaning, spelling, and connection of the name. The motion asked staff to engage Indigenous communities to review the name, and a City report dated June 29, 2026, describes where that work stands. Staff report that there is still no consensus on the accuracy, spelling, or interpretation of Wonscotonach, though it relates to historical Anishinaabemowin place names of the area. The report cites research by Dr. Alan Corbiere of M’Chigeeng First Nation, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous History of North America at York University, which suggests that the translations and spellings considered so far may not be accurate. According to the report, handwriting analysis in that research indicates that the spelling in the surveyor’s notes may not be the one first recorded, and the research identifies Wonscote’onack (glossed as back burnt grounds) and Nezhingwaakokaang (glossed as a point of land with lots of white pine trees) as possible translations. The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation advised after a sharing circle in April 2026 that the decision should follow a land-based process, including a site visit in summer 2026, to decide whether a historical name can be reclaimed or a new name gifted. The report recommends that staff report back in the second quarter of 2027 with a chosen Anishinaabemowin name, so the 2025 target in the 2024 motion was not met. The City’s report is the only source for Dr. Corbiere’s findings read for this page, and his own publications were not read. The Elizabeth Simcoe page covers her diaries and the lost rivers page covers the Don’s changing course.

Ookwemin Minising and Biidaasige

The City describes a newer example of naming. For the island and park created by the Port Lands flood protection work, an Indigenous Advisory Circle of Elders, Knowledge Keepers, language speakers, and community members met seven times between April and October 2024. City staff worked with LURA Consulting and the MinoKamik Collective. On November 1, 2024, Mayor Olivia Chow and Councillor Paula Fletcher announced the names with Elder Shelley Charles of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, and Council approved them on November 13, 2024.

Ookwemin Minising means “place of the black cherry trees.” The City says local Elders recalled black cherry trees in the area’s marsh and sandy soil. Biidaasige means “sunlight shining towards us.” The name relates to the hope of a new day, to water restoration and reconciliation, and to the Indigenous water walker movement, including Josephine Mandamin. The first phase of the park opened in July 2025. See also Toronto Harbour and waterfront history for the earlier filling of the marsh.

Names the nations use for themselves

Place names are one kind of Indigenous naming and the names of the nations are another. The Six Nations of the Grand River lists the six Haudenosaunee nations with names in their own languages and the meanings it gives: Seneca, Onōdowáˀga:ˀ, the People of the Great Hill; Cayuga, Gayogohó:noˀ, the People of the Great Swamp; Onondaga, Onǫndaˀgegáˀ, the People of the Hills; Oneida, Onyotaˀa:ka:, the People of the Upright Stone; Mohawk, Kanienˀkehá:ka, the People of the Flint; and Tuscarora, Skarùręˀ, the Shirt Wearing People. The 2023 South Humber Monument text spells the Seneca name Onondowagah, so spellings of the same name differ between sources.

The community profile of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation links the name Mississauga to the Anishinaabemowin term Missisakis, which it translates as many river mouths. The Huron-Wendat Nation’s website uses the name Onyionhwentsïio’ for its present traditional territory in Quebec, about 66,065 square kilometers, and names Wendake as its community; it gives no Wendat names for places in Toronto. An article by Jean-François Richard in Ontario Archaeology (2016) refers to research at the Bureau du Nionwentsïo, but the sources read give no meaning for Nionwentsïo, and this page offers none.

The sources read give no Haudenosaunee or Wendat names, with meanings, for Toronto places such as the Humber or the Don. Teiaiagon and Ganatsekwyagon are recorded as the names of villages, and none of the sources read explains what either name means.

Names and their status

Name	Language and meaning given	Status
Tkaronto	Kanyen’kéha, “the place in the water where the trees are standing”	Origin of the city name; other theories exist
Ishpandinaa / Ishpadinaa	Anishinaabemowin, a hill or sudden rise in the land	Source of the name Spadina; 2016 sign
Gete-Onigaming	Anishinaabemowin, “the old portage”	2016 sign; follows Davenport Road
Wonscotonach	Possibly from Waasayishkodenayosh; meaning debated; Corbiere research suggests other readings	Under review with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation; City report of June 29, 2026 recommends a chosen name by Q2 2027
Missisakis	Anishinaabemowin, many river mouths (First Nation profile)	Source of the name Mississauga
Ookwemin Minising	Anishinaabemowin, “place of the black cherry trees”	Approved by Council November 13, 2024
Biidaasige	Anishinaabemowin, “sunlight shining towards us”	Approved by Council November 13, 2024

Are these names official?

Ookwemin Minising and Biidaasige were adopted by City Council in 2024. The street signs are supplementary signs placed with a business improvement area, and Wonscotonach was proposed by Council in 2018 and remains under review: a City report of June 29, 2026, recommends continuing an Indigenous-led process with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

What does Spadina mean?

According to the New College page, which cites First Nations House, Spadina derives from Ishpandinaa, a hill or sudden rise in the land.

Why do translations differ?

Older names were written by English speakers from what they heard, and Anishinaabemowin has regional dialects. The City’s naming reviews have asked language speakers to settle spelling and meaning, and for Wonscotonach they did not reach agreement.

Who decides what a name means?

For the Port Lands names, an Indigenous Advisory Circle of Elders and language speakers made the choice. For older names, written records such as diaries give a spelling but not a meaning, so speakers of the language are the better guide.

Last verified: October 2026

Sources

City of Toronto: Port Lands Indigenous Place Naming Initiative
City of Toronto: History of Biidaasige Park
City of Toronto Council: Member Motion MM24.45, “Wonscotonach Parklands Naming Review,” December 2024 (the City of Toronto website legislative documents)
Don River Valley Park: “Rivers, Parks and Reconciliation: Wonscotonach Parklands Proposal,” December 13, 2018
University of Toronto, New College: Land acknowledgment page, citing Myseum of Toronto, First Story Toronto and First Nations House
City of Toronto, Report for Action, Lower Don Parkland Indigenous Naming, Progress Update, June 29, 2026
Six Nations of the Grand River, Who We Are
Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Community Profile
Nation Wendat, Histoire et culture
Jean-François Richard, “Territorial Precedence in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Huron-Wendat Oral Tradition,” Ontario Archaeology 96, 2016
Rick Garrick, “Where the streets have an old name,” Anishinabek News, May 2, 2017

Cite this page

APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Indigenous Place Names in Toronto: Meanings and Status. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/indigenous-place-names-toronto

MLA: “Indigenous Place Names in Toronto: Meanings and Status.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/indigenous-place-names-toronto. Accessed .

Chicago: History of Toronto. “Indigenous Place Names in Toronto: Meanings and Status.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/indigenous-place-names-toronto.

The pages have no named author, so the site is given as the author. Add the date you read the page if your style asks for it.