Join Dufferin County in September to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Dufferin County will be hosting a Community Conversations event that introduces the history most Canadians were never taught and what it asks of us now: “13 Square Miles: My Cree Ancestors and How Colonization Still Shapes My Life — and Yours”.

Date: Thursday, September 24, 2026
Location: Grace Tipling Hall, Shelburne, ON
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Under the terms of Treaty 9, Chapleau Cree First Nation should have received close to thirteen square miles of reserve land. In 1907 it received 267 acres (less than half a square mile) — and some of that was under water.

Jennifer David, a member of Chapleau Cree First Nation and the author of a newly completed history of her community, will trace five generations of her own family through the fur trade at Moose Factory, the ‘half breed’ inland traders, the coming of the railway, the signing of the treaty, and the Indian Act  — to the two kitchen tables where ordinary people decided they were not going to let Canada dictate their identity or their lives.

Registration is required. Community members can register for the event here.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, observed annually in Canada on September 30, honours the indigenous children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Orange Shirt Day is also recognized on September 30. Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters”.  The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.

Jennifer David is a member of Chapleau Cree First Nation, born and raised in Lower Town in Chapleau — Treaty 9 territory in northeastern Ontario. A journalist by training, she was Director of Communications at the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in its founding years and has spent twenty-five years amplifying First Nations, Inuit and Métis voices as a writer, researcher, facilitator, key note speaker and creator of a seminal Indigenous cultural awareness course called The Path: Your Journey Through Indigenous Canada. She is the author of two books, a TEDx speaker, and a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal. She has just completed a history of her own community, tracing five generations of her family from the fur trade at Moose Factory to a treaty land claim settled 110 years late. She lives in Ottawa.

“Dufferin County is proud to present its next Community Conversations event in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. As we continue to work towards Reconciliation, we must all focus on learning, unlearning, reflection and action. The County encourages community members to join us as we learn more about the Canadian history most of us were never taught, discuss how colonization continues to shape our lives and consider what we can do to create a more equitable community for all in Dufferin.”

-Lisa Post, Warden, Dufferin County

“Dufferin County may seem far from northern Ontario but you’ll see that my own family’s experiences with the fur trade, the Indian Act and a treaty carry threads about colonization that have impacted, and continue to impact, Indigenous Peoples across Canada, including in Dufferin County. How do we reconcile with our own history to create a better, shared future?”

-Jennifer David

-30-

MEDIA CONTACT:
Megan Ball, Manager of Communications
mball@dufferincounty.ca