Commemorating the 1764 Treaty at Niagara, Two Hundred and Fifty Years Later

  am an Algonquin Anishinaabekwe and recently I published a book with Fernwood Publishing that emerges from my doctoral dissertation titled, "The Truth that Wampum Tell: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process".  The publication of my book marks the 250th anniversary of the 1764 Treaty at Niagara, and it offers an Indigenous analysis of the Algonquin of Ontario land claims and self-government process.

Many people are not aware that in the 1800s free land grants were made available to settler people yet the Algonquin were denied land.  In addition, many people are not aware that Canada instituted laws and policies that criminalized Indigenous culture and the ability to hire lawyers to fight for our rights.

Further to this, many people are not aware that the policies currently guiding the contemporary land claims and self-government process are an extension of colonization rather than being rooted in what a treaty is: nation to nation.

I have reconstructed the three Wampum Belts that were exchanged during the 1764 Treaty at Niagara when the 1763 Royal Proclamation was ratified.  While many people value the Royal Proclamation is a constitutional document, few people are aware that the three Wampum Belts exchanged are also constitutional documents.  

Having completed the process of publishing my book I am now interested in assuring it lands in the hands and hearts of readers, both Indigenous and Canadians.

If you are interested in learning the difference between what is a treaty and a land claims, how the Algonquin were missed during the historic treaty process, and an insider analysis that relies on an Anishinaabe way of knowing my book will interest you.

To learn more about “The Truth that Wampum Tells” and to listen to an interview with Indigenous Waves Radio click here: http://www.lynngehl.com/my-2nd-book-the-truth-that-wampum-tells.html

To learn more about my Treaty at Niagara Wampum Bundle click here: http://www.lynngehl.com/my-treaty-at-niagara-wampum-bundle.html

If your organization is interested in having me in to launch my book through a traditional teaching about the Treaty at Niagara let me know.

Of course retail book stores are welcome to contact Brunswick Books and inquire about distribution cost:  http://brunswickbooks.ca/

To help me get the word out - please like and share this blog.

Chi-Miigwetch, 

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Lynn Gehl is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley.  She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Ontario Algonquin land claims and self-government process. She has three books: Anishinaabeg Stories: Featuring Petroglyphs, Petrographs, and Wampum Belts, The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin of the Algonquin Land Claims Process, and Mkadengwe: Sharing Canada's Colonial Process through Black Face Methodology.  You can reach her at lynngehl@gmail.com and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com.

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