Editor,
The Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) claims the Municipality of Meaford to be part of its territory from the signing of Treaty 45 1/2 in 1836 by its ancestral combination of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation and Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation. In fact only the area of the former Sydenham township is within Treaty 45 1/2. The history of the 1818 treaty shows Rankin surveyed St.Vincent township in 1833/4 and established the western boundary of Treaty 18 at what is shown on road signs as the Sydenham/St Vincent town line. Thus the proposed lands upon which the pump storage plant is proposed stands outside SON territory and puts into question their involvement in this project.
There are many reasons why this project should not go ahead and while reconciliation may be a laudable objective let us keep to the truth.
Pioneer settlement plans for Grey County began almost two decades before the rest of Grey County was available for settlement.
Although pioneer settlement did not begin in the Owen Sound area until after Charles Rankin arrived there in the autumn of 1840, plans to settle what would become the County of Grey began long before that date.
1818 Treaty Paved The Way For Pioneer Settlement In Eastern Grey County
On October 17, 1818, the Colonial government signed a treaty with the Ojibway Nation for a tract of land that totalled 1,592,000 acres. This territory provided lands which became the southern and western portion of Simcoe County, as well as the area which would become part of Dufferin County. However, of importance to Grey County historians, this treaty also included the land which would become the townships of Artemesia, Collingwood, Euphrasia, Osprey, Proton, and St. Vincent.
In 1821 a bill was presented to the House of Assembly listing the townships which would be opened in the future for settlement. At first glance, one would be hard-pressed to find the townships which would ultimately form part of Grey County. Collingwood Township was called Alba; St. Vincent’s original name was Zero; Artemesia was spelled Artemisia and Euphrasia was called Eurphrasy. However, before the bill could be passed by the Assembly its spelling was changed to Euphrasey, and on some maps it was spelled Uphrasy. In fact, it is not known exactly when Euphrasia became the name of that township. Although it must have been sometime in the 1830s because Rankin’s orders to survey the area in the mid-1830s, it was spelled Euphrasia.
After they were surveyed in 1833-34, Alba and Zero were re-named Collingwood and St. Vincent respectively.
The treaty established the western St Vincent boundary 1833 and treaty 45 1/2 was made 1836. This proves SON had no history in St Vincent. The 1818 treaty was made with other Chippewa bands of the Ojibwe Nation. SON is a recent 1996 combination of Saugeen Chippewa First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash. Their Territory is the Saugeen River Valley and Northwest of Owen Sound which may extend to the boundaries of Treaty 45 1/2 of 1836.
Mike Ashmore, Meaford
