Find the First Nations territory where your European ancestors settled in North America

Native-Land.ca is a fascinating website, created two years ago to help North Americans learn more about their local Indigenous territories, languages, and history.

Enter your ancestor’s address or town in Native-Land, or enter your own, to find out which indigenous group first lived there. If your ancestors were First Nations, the maps will be especially intriguing.

The article, Ontario, Algonquins move closer to signing major land claims treaty, that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday is a good reminder about how much land the First Nations once owned, still own, and negotiate to continue owning.

One of the largest land claims in Canada’s history is the Algonquins’. The territory claimed stretches from Ottawa to Kingston to North Bay. “Within its boundaries are the nation’s capital, including Parliament Hill, large parts of the Ottawa Valley, and virtually all of Algonquin Provincial Park.”

Ontario is closing in on a treaty with the Algonquins in the province, but there is still plenty of negotiating anticipated. The current negotiations started in 1991, but fell apart in 2001.

“The Algonquins have claimed the land for some 250 years, with their claims dating back to 1763. Their rights have never been extinguished by treaty.”

Robert Potts of Blaney McMurtry LLP in Toronto, who has been the senior negotiator for the Algonquins since 2005 told the Citizen, “The Algonquins fought for the British, who recognized their contributions, but never got around to acting on the claims. It’s been a nightmare since.”

Native-Land is a work in progress. According to the website, “These maps are not definitive OR complete. Boundaries WILL change.”

The sources used to create the maps can be found on the Resources page.

Thanks to Bill G.T. Young for sharing Native-Land on Facebook.