The Toronto area lies in the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabek, and Indigenous people have lived there for more than 13,000 years, according to the Ontario Heritage Trust. The land is covered today by the Toronto Purchase, Treaty 13 of 1805, made with the Mississaugas of the Credit, who received a $145 million (CAD) settlement from the Government of Canada in 2010 for the way the Crown acquired it.
Thirteen thousand years of presence
The Ontario Heritage Trust states that people have lived on the north shore of Lake Ontario for more than 13,000 years. It names the Wendat, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabek, and Métis as the traditional peoples of the area. The word Tkaronto, from which the modern name Toronto is often traced, comes from Haudenosaunee and Wendat words and roughly means “where the trees are standing in the water.” How that word became the name of the city is a separate and contested question, covered on the page about the origin of the name Toronto.
The Huron-Wendat Nation’s position
The Huron-Wendat Nation, whose community of Wendake lies near Quebec City, regards southern Ontario as part of its ancestral lands. The Council of the Huron-Wendat Nation (Conseil de la Nation huronne-wendat) set out its position in Resolution 6598 of June 15, 2015, on the archaeological and cultural heritage of its ancestral lands in Ontario, which it calls Huronia. The resolution states that 711 Huron-Wendat archaeological sites had been identified in southern Ontario and that more than 8,000 sites are estimated to have been destroyed by development, including in the Greater Toronto Area, without the Nation’s knowledge or consent. It describes protection of ancestral burial sites as a right under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and records that the Nation has had a work team on the Ontario file since 2012. The 8,000 figure is the Council’s own estimate, and the resolution does not say how it was reached.
The Nation’s public history page on its own website describes its present territory in Quebec and a Wendat creation account, and it does not discuss Toronto. For the Toronto area, archaeology fills part of the gap. Ronald Williamson’s overview of Wendat archaeology in Ontario Archaeology (2014) says that between A.D. 1300 and 1600 many ancestral Wendat communities lay along the rivers that drain into the north shore of Lake Ontario between the Credit River and Prince Edward County. He lists only two village sites in the lower Don valley, Moatfield and Jackes, and attributes the lack of earlier sites to nineteenth-century development of the city. He reports that the Don drainage was abandoned near the turn of the sixteenth century, and he describes villages in the Humber headwaters that continued into the sixteenth century. The same paper traces the mid-seventeenth-century dispersal of the three Ontario confederacies to conflict among the Wendat-Tionontaté, the Attiwandaron (Neutral), and the Haudenosaunee, sharpened by European interests, after epidemics and famine cut populations by more than 50 percent between 1634 and 1640. Williamson is an archaeologist and does not speak for the Nation. A Wendat account of the events of 1649 and 1650 could not be read for this page.
The Wendat, the Seneca, and the Humber route
A plaque rededicated in 2023 at the South Humber Monument was reworded by the Etobicoke Historical Society together with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and La Société d’histoire de Toronto. It says the Humber and its valley gave the Wendat (Huron), the Onondowagah (Seneca), and the Mississaugas of the Credit, among others, water, food, and shelter over thousands of years, and a way to travel and trade by the Toronto Passage. According to the press kit for the rededication, Indigenous peoples used the Carrying Place Trail for millennia and built villages on the riverbank.
Teiaiagon and Ganatsekwyagon
The Ontario Heritage Trust names two large seventeenth-century settlements: Teiaiagon, overlooking the lower Humber River on the west side of the present city, and Ganatsekwyagon, on the Rouge River to the east. On the Rouge, the Parks Canada Directory of Federal Heritage Designations records Bead Hill as a national historic site designated on November 22, 1991. It calls Bead Hill the only known remaining and intact seventeenth-century Seneca site in Canada and dates the village and its burial area to about 1665 to 1687. The record does not use the name Ganatsekwyagon, so this page does not state that the two names are the same site.
A plaque at Baby Point, whose text is transcribed on the site Read the Plaque without naming the body that erected it, describes Teiaiagon as a Seneca village of about 1,000 people that existed from about 1670 to 1688 and was visited by Father Louis Hennepin in 1678 and by La Salle in 1680. Other sources give different figures for the same village:
| Source | Population | Other details given |
|---|---|---|
| Baby Point plaque (transcription) | About 1,000 | About 1670 to 1688; La Salle 1680 |
| City of Toronto report for action, November 15, 2024 | 500 to 800 | Seneca village; matrilineal, agricultural society growing corn, squash, and beans |
| Canadian Encyclopedia (James H. Marsh) | Hundreds of people in dozens of longhouses | La Salle’s visit in 1680; village lasted about 20 years |
| City of Toronto, Baby Point study timeline, 2018 | Not given | La Salle’s visit in 1684; Seneca leave in 1688 for the Finger Lakes |
The sources do not settle the date of La Salle’s visit or the size of the village. The 2024 City report also records who was asked about the Baby Point heritage district. From July 2021 the City engaged the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council, the Huron-Wendat Nation, the Métis Nation of Ontario, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the Six Nations of the Grand River, and on October 7, 2024, representatives of Six Nations gave verbal support for the plan. That is the City’s description of the process, not a statement by the nations. The report adds that the Huron-Wendat Nation, Six Nations, and the Mississaugas of the Credit continue to value the promontory and the Humber for their ties to their ancestors.
Haudenosaunee and Six Nations accounts
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council gives the Confederacy’s own account of its origin on its website. The Confederacy has existed since time immemorial, according to that page, and the Creator sent the Peacemaker to bring the good mind, called Kariwiio. The Peacemaker and Aiionwatha, commonly known as Hiawatha, taught the laws of peace and persuaded chiefs to join. The page names five nations, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, and describes the Great Tree of Peace, planted among the Onondaga, as the place where the Confederacy’s council met. It gives no founding date, so none is stated here.
The Six Nations of the Grand River describes itself as the only First Nation community that includes all six Haudenosaunee nations, and gives the Seneca name as Onōdowáˀga:ˀ, which it translates as the People of the Great Hill. It says the community was promised land under the “Treaty of Haldimand” in return for its alliance with the British during the American Revolution and that its present territory is only a fraction of the promised area. The Confederacy Chiefs Council’s Haudenosaunee Development Institute states that it represents Confederacy interests in lands that include the Haldimand Tract, along the Grand River, and that its land use agreements do not surrender title.
None of these pages mentions Toronto, Teiaiagon, or Ganatsekwyagon. The Haudenosaunee view of the Toronto area is therefore available here only indirectly, through the Seneca association recorded by Parks Canada and the City’s account of Six Nations support for the Baby Point district. No statement from the Seneca Nation or the Confederacy on why the Seneca left the north shore was found.
The Mississaugas and the Credit River
The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation tell their own history this way: their ancestors lived north of Lake Superior and around Georgian Bay, and moved across the land with the seasons. After the Iroquois expelled the Huron in 1649 and 1650, they say, the Mississaugas and their allies pushed the Iroquois back south of Lake Ontario by the end of the seventeenth century, and settled at the eastern and western ends of the lake, mainly at the mouth of the Credit River. The First Nation describes a territory of about 3.9 million acres, from the Rouge River valley to the headwaters of the Thames River.
A plaque on the Toronto Carrying Place, whose text is transcribed at Read the Plaque, states that by 1700 the Mississaugas controlled the area. Whether the Mississaugas took the land by force or moved into land the Seneca had already left is a point on which accounts differ, and the sources read for this page do not settle it.
Who held the shore after the Seneca: competing accounts
The accounts read for this page place the end of the Seneca presence and the rise of Mississauga control at different moments and for different reasons.
| Source | Account |
|---|---|
| Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation | Mississaugas and allies pushed the Iroquois back south of Lake Ontario by the end of the seventeenth century and settled at the mouth of the Credit |
| Toronto Carrying Place plaque (transcription) | By 1700 the Mississaugas controlled the area |
| City of Toronto, 2018 study timeline | The Seneca abandon Teiaiagon in 1688 and retreat to the Finger Lakes; the Mississauga establish a village across the Humber in 1702 |
| Heritage Toronto | In 1701 the Anishinaabeg drove the Haudenosaunee out of the area and the two groups agreed to peace |
| Canadian Encyclopedia (James H. Marsh) | The village was likely preceded by the Huron and followed by the Mississauga; no reason for the departure is given |
The first, second, and fourth accounts describe force or conflict, the third describes a departure followed by a later settlement, and the fifth does not say. No account written by the Seneca or the Confederacy was found, so the reasons remain open.
The Dish With One Spoon and the 1764 belts
Heritage Toronto describes the Dish With One Spoon as an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and the Anishinaabeg, recorded on a clam-shell wampum belt that it dates to 1701. The Great Lakes area is the shared dish, and the agreement asks that it be protected. The York University seminar series Polishing the Chain (2021 and 2022), which brought together Indigenous and allied scholars and knowledge holders, says that the belts presented at the Treaty of Niagara in 1764 drew on the Dish With One Spoon wampum, and that Niagara extended the Covenant Chain alliance with the Haudenosaunee to 24 Western nations. The series page also calls Treaty 13 one of the most controversial treaties in southern Ontario and lists a panel on Mississauga oral history of the agreement. The two sources do not describe the origin of the belt in the same way: Heritage Toronto links it to peace after Anishinaabeg forced the Haudenosaunee out, while the series page says only that its symbolism was used at Niagara. Neither is an explanation by a belt keeper, and the meaning of the belt is best confirmed with the nations concerned.
From French trade to British control
According to the Ontario Heritage Trust, the French built forts and trading posts in the early eighteenth century for the fur trade. The posts disrupted Indigenous ways of life and brought conflict and disease. The British claimed control of the area in 1763.
The Toronto Purchase, 1787 and 1805
The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation describes the first agreement as a meeting in 1787 at the Bay of Quinte between Sir John Johnston, Superintendent General of the Indian Department, and Mississaugas. A deed was later found, but it was blank and did not describe the land, and the chiefs’ marks were written on separate pieces of paper attached to it. An attempt to survey the land in 1788 met Mississauga opposition, which shows that no clear boundary had been agreed. The Crown’s own text of the 1805 deed, published by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, dates the earlier agreement to September 23, 1787, at the Carrying Place at the head of the Bay of Quinté, between Sir John Johnson and the chiefs Wabukanyne, Neace, and Pakquan. It states that the instrument made then did not describe the tract and was defective and imperfect. The two sources agree on that point and spell the Superintendent’s name differently.
Crown administrators later doubted that the treaty was legal. Many settlers lacked legal title to their homesteads, and York, the capital of Upper Canada, may have stood on land with questionable title. The 1805 deed was made at the River Credit on August 1, 1805, between William Claus, Deputy Superintendent General, for the Crown and the principal chiefs, warriors, and people of the Mississague Nation. It gives the payment as ten shillings, begins at the east bank of the south outlet of the Etobicoke River, and reserves the fishery in the Etobicoke River for the sole use of the Mississaugas. Eight chiefs marked it with totems: Chechalk, Quenepenon, Wabukanyne, Okemapenesse, Wabenose, Kebonecence, Osenego, and Acheton. This is Treaty 13. The deed gives the area as 250,808 acres, while the First Nation’s page gives 250,830 acres, so this page says about 250,800 acres (about 1,015 square kilometers). The treaty lands include what are now Etobicoke, Toronto, North York, York, and Vaughan, according to the First Nation.
The 2010 settlement
The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation states that it filed a claim against the Government of Canada in 1998. It argued that the Crown took more land than the 1787 agreement covered, including the Toronto Islands, and did not pay a reasonable sum in 1805. The Government of Canada announced an offer of $145 million (CAD) for the Toronto Purchase and Brant Tract claims on January 25, 2010, subject to a member vote. In a release of October 2010, the Government of Canada reports that Chief Bryan LaForme described a ratification vote on May 29, 2010, in which an overwhelming share of members voted yes, and that the settlement was financial only, with no land component. The First Nation notes that this was the largest claims settlement in Canadian history at that time. The sources read give different dates for the stages of 2010, from the January offer to the October celebration on October 29, so this page names the year and cites each stage to its source.
The Williams Treaties
The Williams Treaties of 1923 are a separate set of agreements covering land in south central Ontario. Seven First Nations were parties: Alderville, Chippewas of Beausoleil, Chippewas of Georgina Island, Chippewas of Rama, Curve Lake, Hiawatha, and Mississaugas of Scugog Island. They filed the Alderville litigation in 1992. The Government of Canada reports a settlement with total financial compensation of $1.11 billion (CAD), and on November 17, 2018, at a ceremony in Rama, Ontario, Canada and Ontario apologized to the seven First Nations. The federal apology states that the Crown did not adequately compensate them or provide additional reserve lands under the treaties.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| A.D. 1300 to 1600 | Ancestral Wendat villages along the rivers of the north shore (Williamson, 2014) |
| About 1665 to 1687 | Seneca village at Bead Hill on the Rouge, according to Parks Canada |
| About 1670 to 1688 | Teiaiagon, a Seneca village at Baby Point, according to a plaque transcription |
| 1688 and 1702 | Seneca leave Teiaiagon; Mississauga village across the Humber (City of Toronto, 2018 timeline) |
| By 1700 | Mississaugas control the area (plaque transcription; contested in detail) |
| 1701 | Dish With One Spoon belt and peace between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg, according to Heritage Toronto |
| 1763 | British claim control |
| September 23, 1787 | Agreement with Sir John Johnson at the Carrying Place at the head of the Bay of Quinté, according to the 1805 deed |
| August 1, 1805 | Treaty 13 signed: about 250,800 acres for ten shillings |
| 1923 | Williams Treaties |
| 2010 | $145 million (CAD) settlement of the Toronto Purchase and Brant Tract claims |
| June 15, 2015 | Huron-Wendat Nation Council adopts Resolution 6598 on its ancestral heritage in Ontario |
| November 17, 2018 | Canada and Ontario apologize to the seven Williams Treaties First Nations |
Frequently asked questions
Whose traditional territory is Toronto on?
The Ontario Heritage Trust names the Wendat, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabek, and Métis. The treaty relationship for the city itself is with the Mississaugas of the Credit through Treaty 13. The Huron-Wendat Nation’s Council states in a 2015 resolution that its ancestral lands include southern Ontario, and the City of Toronto’s 2024 Baby Point report describes the area as ancestral to the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat.
What was the Toronto Purchase?
It was a land transaction with the Mississaugas, first in 1787 and again in 1805 (Treaty 13), because the 1787 instrument did not describe the land. The 1805 treaty covered about 250,800 acres.
Was the Toronto Purchase ever settled?
Yes. In 2010 the Government of Canada announced a $145 million (CAD) settlement of the Toronto Purchase Claim and the Brant Tract Claim.
Are the Williams Treaties the same as Treaty 13?
No. The Williams Treaties date from 1923 and involve seven other First Nations. Treaty 13 dates from 1805.
What is the Dish With One Spoon?
It is a wampum agreement between the Haudenosaunee and the Anishinaabeg to share and protect the lands around the Great Lakes. Heritage Toronto dates the belt to 1701, and a York University series says its imagery was used again at the Treaty of Niagara in 1764.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Ontario Heritage Trust, Layer by Layer exhibit
- Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Treaty Texts, Upper Canada Land Surrenders (Toronto Purchase, No. 13, 1805)
- Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, The Toronto Purchase Treaty, No. 13 (1805)
- Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, history of the Mississaugas
- Etobicoke Historical Society with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and La Société d’histoire de Toronto, South Humber Monument press kit, 2023
- Conseil de la Nation huronne-wendat, Resolution 6598, Position of the Huron-Wendat Nation regarding the archaeological and cultural heritage of the ancestral lands located in Ontario, June 15, 2015 (copy hosted by the County of Prince Edward)
- Nation Wendat, Histoire et culture
- Ronald F. Williamson, “The Archaeological History of the Wendat to A.D. 1651: An Overview,” Ontario Archaeology 94, 2014
- Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council, The Confederacy’s Creation; Haudenosaunee Development Institute, Historical Background
- Six Nations of the Grand River, Who We Are
- Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Bead Hill National Historic Site of Canada
- City of Toronto, Report for Action, Designation of the Teiaiagon-Baby Point Heritage Conservation District, November 15, 2024; Baby Point HCD Study, Historic Timeline display boards, 2018
- Heritage Toronto, Indigenous History of Toronto tour, Anishinaabeg, Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and wampum
- York University, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, “Polishing the Chain: Treaty Relations in Toronto,” September 28, 2021
- Government of Canada, Canada and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation celebrate historic claim settlement, 2010; Claim settlement on the horizon, January 25, 2010
- Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Canada and Ontario advance reconciliation with historic apologies to the seven Williams Treaties First Nations, November 2018
- Read the Plaque, transcriptions of the Teiaiagon plaque and the Toronto Carrying Place plaque; issuer of both plaques not stated
- James H. Marsh, “Toronto Feature: Teiaiagon, Seneca Village,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2013, edited 2015
Related reading
- Toronto history hub: overview of the city’s past
- Competing explanations for the name Toronto
- A longer history of the city from early settlement
- Historic churches of Toronto
- The original name of the settlement
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Indigenous History of Toronto: Treaties, Land and Settlement. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/torontos-rich-indigenous-history-unveiled-preserving-the-legacy-of-canadas-first-peoples
MLA: “Indigenous History of Toronto: Treaties, Land and Settlement.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/torontos-rich-indigenous-history-unveiled-preserving-the-legacy-of-canadas-first-peoples. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Indigenous History of Toronto: Treaties, Land and Settlement.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/torontos-rich-indigenous-history-unveiled-preserving-the-legacy-of-canadas-first-peoples.
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