Caldwell First Nation and Parks Canada reach agreement to explore shared governance of the proposed national urban park in Windsor

LEAMINGTON, ON, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Today, on the Northwest Beach of Point Pelee National Park, Caldwell First Nation honoured its ancestors with ceremony and by entering into an agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) with Parks Canada demonstrating reconciliation in action and the ability to come together. This MOU speaks to the relationship between Caldwell First Nation and Parks Canada in working towards ongoing exploration of shared governance and collaborative management for a proposed national urban park in the Windsor area.

"Signing this agreement at Point Pelee National Park, the heart of our ancestral lands and waters, highlights the positive relationships we have already built with Parks Canada," explained Chief Duckworth of Caldwell First Nation.

The Memorandum of Understanding is the result of over a year and a half of discussions between Caldwell First Nation and Parks Canada. It is a significant achievement for the members of Caldwell First Nation who were once forced off their lands and gives the Nation an opportunity to have a voice in the protection and management of the cultural and natural heritage at the proposed national urban park in the Windsor area.

"Our mother is sending a message we all need to listen to right now", said Duckworth. "The message is that we as human beings are not being responsible for our mother who provides everything we need. As First Nations in Southwestern Ontario, we were never given the opportunity to contribute our ways of knowing, being, and doing. We will honour and protect all our relations now. We look forward to collaborating with Parks Canada on creating a First Nations approach to shared governance of the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park."

The creation of this new urban park will enable First Nations to share the rich and meaningful cultural heritage and history of the ancestors, and the plants and trees that sustained them, and continue to exist in the areas that will be protected from future development. These lands include Ojibway Shores, Ojibway Park, Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve, Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Park, Black Oak Heritage Park, Turkey Creek, and Spring Garden Natural area.

The MOU affirms a shared interest to collaboratively explore opportunities for cooperation between Caldwell First Nation and Parks Canada, including:

• First Nation-led conservation;
• Connecting people to First Nations history and to nature; and
• Building commitments to ensure shared park management and operations, visitor experiences, and wildfire management.

"Parks Canada works in collaboration with Indigenous nations across the country to better represent and share their histories and cultures. As the original stewards of lands and waters in Canada, it is imperative that Indigenous peoples tell their stories. By enhancing relationships with First Nations, like we are doing with Caldwell First Nation, we are ensuring that the factual histories of these places are being shared with current and future generations. Caldwell First Nation can count on the ongoing support of Parks Canada as we continue to work together toward designating a new national urban park in Windsor," said Ron Hallman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Parks Canada.

Maria Papoulias, Project Manager for the Windsor National Urban Park Initiative with Parks Canada also added: "Parks Canada is working closely with Caldwell First Nation and other rights-holding First Nations and partners to ensure the proposed national urban park in the Windsor area promotes First Nations stewardship, elevates First Nations voices and stories, and offers opportunities for connections to lands and waters based on First Nation knowledge and values. We are honoured to have worked together to create a Memorandum of Understanding which truly exemplifies our commitment to collaboration."

About Caldwell First Nation:

• Caldwell First Nation is the most southwestern First Nation in Canada, and we are a distinct and federally recognized Indian band.
• We were known as the Zaaga'iganniniwag, meaning: "People of the Lake" and also were referred to by such names as the "Chippewas of Pelee"; "Point Pelee Indians" and "Caldwell's band of Indians".
• Our ancestors and Nation persevered, won the struggle, and ratified a land claim settlement with the Federal government for the loss of our traditional lands going back more than 220 years.
• In May 1790, the Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawatomi, and Huron surrendered a large tract of land in southwestern Ontario, including Point Pelee. But Caldwell First Nation did not sign or benefit from the treaty. Caldwell First Nation served as allies of the British during the War of 1812. In consideration of this service, they were promised land at Point Pelee. We continued to occupy Point Pelee, with the support of the Canadian government, up until the late 1850s. In the 1920s, many of the band members were forced off our traditional lands by the RCMP. Today we are restoring our cultural heritage and building economic prosperity, and homes for our members on our territory in Leamington, Ontario.

Visit our website: https://www.caldwellfirstnation.ca/historical-resource-links.html to learn more about our history.

• Parks Canada protects and presents nationally significant examples of natural and cultural heritage in Canada, and fosters public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure the ecological and commemorative integrity of these places for present and future generations.
• Parks Canada administers one of the finest and most extensive systems of cultural and natural heritage places in the world, nearly all of which have been traditionally used by Indigenous peoples.
• Parks Canada is committed to working collaboratively with Indigenous peoples to recognize and honour the historic and contemporary contributions, the histories, and cultures, as well as the special relationships Indigenous peoples have with ancestral lands, waters, and ice.

• National urban parks in Canada will contribute to conservation of nature in urban areas and biodiversity goals, provide access to nature for people living in major urban centres, and advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. In the Windsor area, a national urban park would provide long-term protection of the few remaining natural areas that protect rare Carolinian Zone Tallgrass Prairie and Black Oak Savannah ecosystems. The creation of a national urban park in the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy is an opportunity to support and foster rights-holding First Nations' leadership and stewardship in conserving and restoring these lands and waters.

Visit https://parks.canada.ca/pun-nup to learn more about the proposed national urban park in Windsor.

SOURCE Caldwell First Nations