Indigenous Peterborough: Williams Treaties, Nations and Community

About Peterborough

Peterborough had 83,651 residents in the 2021 census, and its census metropolitan area counted 128,624. The city grew beside a series of rapids on the Otonabee River. Its Ojibway name, Nogojiwanong, is given as the place at the end of the rapids. The Trent-Severn Waterway runs through the city, and the Peterborough Lift Lock is one of its best-known structures. Trent University, founded in 1964, brings students from across the country. The Canadian Canoe Museum opened a new lakefront campus in 2024. Manufacturing once led the local economy. Today, services and tourism play a larger role. The Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre runs a main site and a satellite office in the city.

Peterborough history

Michi Saagiig, or Mississauga Anishnaabeg, people have lived along the Otonabee River and the lakes to the north for generations. The city's Ojibway name, Nogojiwanong, still points to the rapids on the Otonabee. In 1825, Peter Robinson led about 2,024 Irish Catholic settlers from Cork to the area. The settlement was renamed Peterborough in his honour. It became a town in 1850 and a city on July 1, 1905. In October and November 1923, the Crown signed the Williams Treaties with seven First Nations. The Mississauga signatories were Alderville, Curve Lake, Hiawatha and Scugog Island. The Chippewa signatories were Beausoleil, Georgina Island and Rama. The treaties covered more than 20,000 square kilometres of south central Ontario. They were the last historic land cession treaties in Canada. They were also more restrictive on hunting and fishing rights than earlier treaties. In 2018, Canada and Ontario reached a settlement with the Williams Treaties First Nations. It included $666 million from Canada and $444 million from Ontario and recognized treaty harvesting rights. Both governments also formally apologized. The Peterborough Lift Lock opened in 1904. It is described as the world's largest hydraulic lift lock.

Treaty and territory

Peterborough sits on the treaty and traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishnaabeg, within the lands of the Williams Treaties First Nations.

Nearby: Curve Lake First Nation · Hiawatha First Nation · Lakefield · Alderville First Nation · Petroglyphs Provincial Park · Millbrook

Indigenous Peterborough today

Indigenous learning has deep roots in Peterborough. Trent University was the first university in Canada to create a dedicated Indigenous Studies department, more than 50 years ago. Its Chanie Wenjack School is named for an Anishinaabe youth from Ogoki Post who attended Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School. The First Peoples House of Learning is based at Peter Gzowski College. The Boodweh Centre teaches Indigenous knowledge and languages, including Nishnaabemowiin and Haudenosaunee languages. The Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre opened in 2008. It runs more than 20 programs for First Nations, Métis, Inuit and other urban Indigenous people. They include family and youth programs, diabetes support, housing help, court support and Elder visits. The centre's work is grounded in the Seven Grandfather Teachings. Curve Lake First Nation is one of the Williams Treaties nations near Peterborough. It supports its members through employment, health and family services. About 40 kilometres northeast, Petroglyphs Provincial Park protects the Teaching Rocks, the largest known concentration of Indigenous rock carvings in Canada.

Life in Peterborough

Peterborough is known for its waterways. The Trent-Severn Waterway carries boaters through the city, and the Lift Lock remains a working landmark on it. The Canadian Canoe Museum's new campus sits right on the waterfront at 2077 Ashburnham Drive. The Canadian Canoe Museum holds more than 600 canoes, kayaks and paddled craft. It calls this the world's largest collection of its kind. Its collection includes an Algonquin birch bark canoe built by William and Mary Commanda. National Geographic named the museum one of the best cultural spots in its Best of the World 2024 list. Petroglyphs Provincial Park, established in 1976, covers 1,643 hectares. Its Learning Place Visitor Centre shares Ojibway traditions. McGinnis Lake, inside the park, is one of only a handful of meromictic lakes in Canada.

Peterborough seasons and weather

Peterborough has a humid continental climate with four distinct seasons. Winters are cold, and the city once recorded −39.4°C in December 1871. Summers can get hot, with a record of 38.9°C in July 1936. Most people move from a heavy hoodie in January to a light tee on summer paddles.

More on the region: Indigenous Ontario · all of Canada.

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Peterborough questions