This week we’re taking you to Niagara Falls for the second installment of our occasional series Unmapped. Rosanna is unmapping Niagara Falls, aka Onguiaahra – from the Haudenosaunee contributions to the War of 1812 to the Tuscarora women keeping their culture and traditions alive through beading, there is much more to know beyond the iconic waterfall.
But there is a rich history of Indigenous life and a story that Indigenous people are working to make sure is recognized by visitors and remembered by future generations because Niagara Falls is more than tourist traps and honeymooners, they say. "It just didn't make sense knowing the nature of our people and how we feel about the sacredness of life," he said.
She then went over the falls in a canoe, but was rescued and cured by the Thunder Beings who lived behind the falls. Johnson, the senior adviser to the heritage and legacy group at the Niagara Parks Commission, is behind a number of public art memorials that acknowledge the contributions of First Nations people in the area.
The memorial is a sprawling interactive art installation that weaves together Haudenosaunee knowledge and historical accounts of the important battle that shaped the birth of Canada as a country. But the construction of the Robert Moses Parkway in the early 1960s — now known as the Niagara Scenic Parkway — created a challenge for the women looking to sell their goods.