Land Acknowledgement

INDIGINOUS HISTORY

Long before the founding of St. Jacobs, this region was part of the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples.

The Conestogo River and surrounding watershed formed an important part of a vast network of travel routes, fishing grounds, hunting areas, and seasonal camps. For thousands of years, Indigenous communities lived in relationship with this land, guided by knowledge systems that supported sustainable use of the river and its ecosystems.

The Neutral Nation (Attawandaron) were among the earliest known inhabitants, later followed by Haudenosaunee presence after the 1600s. The Grand River watershed, which includes this area, remains closely tied to the Six Nations of the Grand River today.

European settlement in the early 1800s transformed the landscape through farming, mills, and dams, reshaping waterways and access to the land. This stop acknowledges the deep and continuing Indigenous history of this place.