Vol 1 No 1, 2025 Research Article
Amanda Periera-Rego
Student, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada.
DOI: To be assigned
[Article History: Received: 02 May 2025. Accepted: 24 July 2025. Published: 30 July 2025]
Abstract
In Canada’s Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the promulgation of narratives shapes the public’s perceptions about Indigenous Peoples relationality with their lands. Historically, Indigenous Peoples’ presence in the GTA occurred since time immemorial (Gray, 2022). Many Indigenous bands possess relationality with lands in the GTA, including the Haudenosaunee, Attiwonderonk, Anishinabewaki, Wendake-Nionwentsïo and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (Native Land, 2025). This paper argues that the perpetuation of colonial narratives about Indigenous Peoples invisibilized, Europeanized, and sensationalized Indigenous Peoples’ presence and significance in the GTA. I will investigate how invisibilization occurs through Indigenous narratives omission from narratives, particularly through the conceptualization and promotion of the melting pot. In addition, Europeanization describes the distortion of Indigenous-based narratives to center and align with Eurocentric ideals. I will demonstrate how Europeanization manifests through narratives surrounding trading, treaties, and traditional ways of life to align with narratives. Moreover, sensationalism depicts how the media biases negative narratives about Indigenous Peoples to elicit emotionally charged audience reactions. This research paper aims to reconceptualize the GTA based on culturally responsive knowledge that prioritizes Indigenous Peoples’ relationality with their traditional lands. This knowledge will be rooted in rich oral history as well as contemporary Indigenous-led research centered around Indigenous Peoples’ ways of knowing, doing, and being. Furthermore, I will share some recommendations to combat the creation and perpetuation of these biased and inaccurate narratives, particularly educational initiatives, the reprioritization of relationality, and the implementation of place makers.
Keywords: Greater Toronto Area, Canada, Oral History, Invisibilized, and Relationality.
