John Wilson of the Lost Rivers initiative guides a walk entitled Walk the treaty boundary of the “Toronto Purchase” through Marie Curtis Park to the mouth of Etobicoke Creek, on the border between Toronto (Etobicoke) and Mississauga. This river mouth was one of two points along Etobicoke Creek, used to survey the western line of the Toronto Purchase, the treaty between Indigenous Mississaugas of the Credit and the British Crown that permitted European settlement. This line still forms much of the boundary between York and Peel Regions. The walk traces this liminal landscape, following waterways once used as transportation routes by Indigenous peoples, to consider hidden narratives of alienation, accommodation, and resilience.
Event Notes: Rain or shine, participants will meet promptly at 2pm at the Small Arms Inspection Building and moves to Marie Curtis Park.
Accessibility: The event involves active walking through various paths in a public park with a few stops to rest over the course of the program
Image Credit: Storytelling: Lost Rivers, 2019. Photo: Yuula Benivolski.
Small Arms Inspection Building (2019)
1352 Lakeshore Road East
Mississauga ON
L5E 1E9
October 27
Bio
John Wilson (born in Youngstown, OH, USA; lives in Toronto, ON, Canada) is an independent community engagement specialist and waterfront advocate. Wilson leads public walks with the Lost Rivers project, a collaboration of the Toronto Green Community and Toronto Field Naturalists. He serves as co-chair of the West Don Lands Committee and board member of Waterfront for All. From 2000 to 2011, Wilson served as chair of the Task Force to Bring Back the Don, a citizens’ advisory committee of Toronto City Council with a mandate to restore a clean, green, accessible Don River.