Field Trip Sites
Allan Gardens
Kimberly Boissiere and Jeremie Caribou
Robinson, K. (2017 June). Toronto tour takes a walk through the city’s Indigenous
history. The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-tour-takes-a-walk-throughthe-citys-indigenous-history/article35270967/
- “The park is known as a meeting place for the Indigenous community in the city, with many nearby agencies and organizations dedicated to aboriginal causes. Northeast of the park on Carlton Street was the home of Dr. Oronhyatekha (Dr. O), who was a Mohawk physician, the CEO of a multinational financial institution and a notable figure in the history surrounding British colonization and the Indigenous community. Dr. O was also the first known Indigenous Oxford scholar and a strong voice for the rights of women, children and minorities. As a well-recognized figure in the Victorian era, he gave speeches on issues of Indigenous suffrage and social equity.”
Birch Trees
Marsh, W. (2016). Traditional Uses of Birch Bark in Canada. Escape, Explore, Experience: https://www.wyemarsh.com/traditional-uses-of-birchbark-in-canada
- “Generations of First Nations peoples, Canada’s earliest European settlers, and voyageurs relied on the use of birch bark for building canoes to traverse Canada’s streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes. The birch bark canoe remains an iconic artifact in Canadian history that was shaped by the rugged wilderness of our countryside and as the principal means of water transportation.”
- “This lightweight yet strong, pliable, and impervious bark from birch trees native to Ontario was the perfect material to build canoes to connect disparate and distant communities to each other to facilitate trade and commerce, promote communication and cultural exchange, and to explore the province’s isolated, impassable landscape.”
- “In addition to canoes, birch bark proved its worth for many other uses including bowls and baskets for cooking, storing, and transporting food, as well as a solid substance to write on or as a canvas on which to paint prior to the mass production of paper and its related products. It could be wrought into twine, rope, and mats. As a construction resource, birch bark (and tree bark in general) was of prime importance to First Nations tribes across Canada.”