Voices of Our Ancestors

Voices of Our Ancestors. . Thanks in large part to the efforts of Egerton Ryerson, Reverend Peter Jones and his brother John, and Chief Joseph Sawyer, the Methodist faith became established amongst the Mississaugas at the Credit River., Elected as Chief in 1829, Reverend Peter Jones encouraged the Mississaugas to become "a new race of people", equal to the settlers around them. He sought to establish a firm economic base for the community, to protect the fisheries from encroachment, and to firmly root Christianity and education in the Credit Mission. To this end, the village became home to a Methodist Chapel and to a schoolhouse., The Credit River Mississaugas' conversion to Christianity involved more than just the adoption of English names, and change came rapidly. The Mississaugas moved from traditional bark structures scattered over a large area to neat log homes, set close together. This meant abandoning communal living. Often three families had lived side-by-side in small clearings, sharing wigwams. With the buildings of the village, two families came to share each log cabin., The adoption of agriculture provided a new economic base, and men and women acquired new roles. Traditionally men had hunted and fished, while women built the wigwams, dressed skins, cooked, made clothing, tended the children, gathered wood, prepared fires and planted corn. If a warrior had performed any of these tasks, the other men would laugh. But in the changing roles, men put up the log cabins, planted and harvested crops, cut the firewood, and supplied food., Under the teachings of John Jones, the Mississaugas learned new farming techniques. Once accustomed to harvesting from nature and the traditional uses of indigenous plants, the Mississaugas quickly adjusted to cultivated farms. On their farms, they grew wheat, oats, peas, corn, potatoes and other vegetables, and maintained small orchards. However, the introduction of farming did not altogether cause the Mississaugas to abandon traditional crops and the use of native plants. A common traditional crop planting was known as the Three Sisters, which involved the companion planting of squash, maize (corn), and beans together., The many indigenous plants found in this garden reflect some of those used for both food and medicine By the Mississaugas. Traditionally harvested food crops included maple syrup, wild rice, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, wood lilies, giant hyssop, ferns, goosefoot, marsh elder, barley, sumac berries, cranberries, grapes, and varieties of nuts. Wild plants used for their medicinal properties included gaillardia, wild rose, harebell, wild flax, bluestem grass, wild bergamot, wild mint and sage, amongst many others. Tobacco, sage, sweet grass and cedar were considered sacred ceremonial medicines and are still used today., The Mississaugas also harvested from nature materials needed for building, canoes, baskets, and other items of daily life, and this included gathering wood from red cedar, alder and birch trees. The Mississaugas have left little physical trace of their time on this land.