The Grand River is situated in southwestern Ontario. From its source near Wareham it flows southeast through the Grand valley–Fergus, Elora, Waterloo, Kitchener, Galt/Cambridge, Paris, Brantford, Ohsweken, Caledonia, and Cayuga–before emptying into the north shore of Lake Erie south of Dunnville at Port Maitland.
In 1784 the Grand River/Tinaatoua and lands adjacent to the river for six miles on either side, including timber and minerals, were the property and within the sovereignty of the Six Nations Confederacy, allies of the British Crown during the American rebellion of 1776-1783. The Six Nations are Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga and Tuscarora. For sixty years after the birth of the USA, the Crown and the Family Compact colluded to overwhelm the Confederacy’s territory with settlers. They manipulated the people into surrendering land via the Grand River Navigation Company swindle. Issues of land claims and Haudenosaunee sovereignty remain before the courts.
Feature image: catching fish in a weir
Grand River, photo credit Eric Praetzel
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