Footnotes vs. Footprints: Academic Discredits Indigenous Activist at Awenda
- John Hawke
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
By ACTION Staff
A recent academic paper published by the Ontario Historical Society (OHS) has drawn criticism from Anishinabek land defenders who say it misrepresents their connection to ancestral lands and undermines Indigenous perspectives on history and treaty rights.
The paper, “The Awenda ‘Council Rock’: Faking Anishinabe–Crown History,” appears in Ontario History, the OHS’s scholarly journal, and was authored by Dr. Carl Benn, Professor of History and Chair of the History Department at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).
In the article, Benn analyzes engravings on a large granite boulder in Awenda Provincial Park and concludes they are modern fabrications falsely associated with the 1795 Penetanguishene Purchase (Crown Treaty No. 5), an agreement between the Chippewas of Lakes Huron and Simcoe and the Crown. Benn argues that the engravings were unknown prior to 2002 and contain historical errors drawn from nineteenth-century sources, including misidentified military regiments and incorrect period lettering.
Benn further asserts that an Indigenous land occupation at the site was based on what he characterizes as mistaken historical assumptions. He writes that protesters occupied the area “under the false impression” that the site held treaty-era significance and suggests that such misunderstandings undermine truth and reconciliation efforts, degrades oral traditions and distracts from legitimate historical sources.
Johnny Hawke, a member of Beausoleil First Nation, is among those “protestors” referenced in Benn’s paper and disputes its conclusions. Hawke says the engravings on the rock and the rock itself were never the focus of the encampment established at Awenda in 2012, which remained until 2019.
“In April 2012 we had been removed by police from our
teepee occupation at Coldwater’s Canadiana Heritage Museum and needed another place to continue our awareness campaign,” Hawke said. “We we told by Elders in our community that Awenda Park is our lands we have rights to, and we set up there to exercise those rights and to continue raising awareness about flawed agreements and lands belonging to our Chippewa Tri Council.” Says Hawke.
The Chippewa Tri Council—comprised of Beausoleil First Nation, Chippewas of Georgina Island, and Chippewas of Rama First Nation—submitted claims to Canada in 1986 and 1990 regarding improper land cessions and inadequate compensation related to the 1795 Penetanguishene Purchase (Treaty No. 5), the 1815 Lake Simcoe–Lake Huron Purchase (Treaty No. 16), and the Lake Simcoe–Nottawasaga Purchase (Treaty No. 18). Those claims were rejected by Canada’s Specific Claims Branch at the time.
Hawke says his actions are grounded in community oral histories, treaty documents, and academic research, including the four-volume study A History of Christian Island and the Beausoleil Band, prepared by the University of Western Ontario in 1989.
“That research includes Elder testimony stating that area around Thunder Beach and Awenda Park area are hunting grounds of the Assance Band,” Hawke said. “There is also a historic wampum belt that acknowledges five major clan regions that stretch from the Credit River to Sault Ste Marie and speaks to this area as the Clan territory of Chief Assance.” Says Hawke.
He also disputes Benn’s treatment of the Penetanguishene Purchase. “Approximately 50,000 acres were not included in the that treaty and were later absorbed into the 1815 Lake Simcoe–Lake Huron Treaty without consent,” Hawke said. “That treaty document also references the use of stone boundaries used as markers on the land for treaty boundaries.”
“For a professor to frame our actions as deception that undermines truth and reconciliation is itself the only misrepresentation here,” Hawke added.
Hawke also expressed concern that Clayton King, a former treaty researcher from Beausoleil
First Nation, publicly endorsed Benn’s claims on social media. In his post, King stated that Benn had met in 2005 with Awenda Park officials, the Chief of Beausoleil First Nation, and others from the band, and that those present had become skeptical of the authenticity of the inscriptions after reviewing Benn’s report.
Despite Benn’s position the 2018 Williams Treaties Settlement Agreement between
Canada, Ontario and seven First Nation, the Crown affirmed the constitutionally protected Indigenous rights of the Chippewa Tri Council, to their traditional territory in Treaties 5, 16, and 18.
Hawke argues the controversy reflects a broader pattern of Indigenous grassroots voices being marginalized within academic discourse. He points to concerns raised at (Un)Making of Métis Claims in Ontario, an academic and community forum hosted by Robinson Huron Treaty communities in Sault Ste. Marie on Dec 13-14, 2025.
“ One of the issues raised at this forum was how the Metis Nation of Ontario on Dec 4, 2024, gifted $749,500 to York University to establish a new doctoral fellowship in Metis Studies to enhance the communities they serve. The concern is this can play a role in influencing research to back Metis unsubstantial claims of having rights within our territories.” Says Hawke.
Dr. Carl Benn is also Chair of the History Department at Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2022, Ryerson University was renamed Toronto Metropolitan University to distance itself from its namesake, Egerton Ryerson, who was a key architect of Canada's harmful Indian Residential School system, a legacy that caused deep pain for Indigenous communities and prompted long-standing calls for change. His article can be found for subscribers of the OHS online journal.
“The only embarrassment I feel is that a Professor of one of Canada’s top universities, along with the Ontario Historical Society and a Treaty Researcher from my own community shared this narrative where our position of so called protestors could’ve been easily found in other available academic research and knowledgeable people in community. I will continue creating awareness and education by continuing to exercise my inherent rights to my Clan Council Fire Territory.” Says Hawke
In 2021 Hawke continued occupying spaces around Tiny Township setting up Teepee's to raise awareness on the contested lands and also stood beside the settler community in their campaigns to have access to shorelines. Throughout his encampments he has been charged for mischief, occupying private property. In all matters in the courts he has self represented himself and raised constitutional challenges in which the Crown despite wanting to pursue charges have always ended up withdrawing charges and not wanting to answer his filed constitutional arguments.
