The Niagara Parks Commission, in association with Plenty Canada, published Landscape of Nations: Beyond the Mist, a 256-page coffee table book featuring works from 17 authors, numerous photographers, mapmakers and artists, that chronicles the history of Indigenous peoples who have lived within the Niagara region for some 13,000 years.
This anthology reveals an unprecedented examination and presentation of the full spectrum of Indigenous life within the Niagara River corridor across millennia, bringing forward previously unknown insights and revelations from a variety of sources, including the meta narratives of Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek cultures, archaeological data and British Indian Department records, along with photographs, artwork and objects from the collections of numerous museums, libraries and archives. The group of authors who contributed to the book comprise the leading scholars and Indigenous knowledge holders with expertise on Indigenous history and culture within the Niagara region including our very own Ron Williamson, Rob MacDonald and Martin Cooper who collaborated on the chapter “First Footprints” which details the archaeological perspective of Niagara’s Indigenous heritage.
Landscape of Nations: Beyond the Mist was co-edited by Rick Hill, a renowned educator of Indigenous cultures, histories and arts who currently serves as an Indigenous Innovations Specialist at Mohawk College and Tim Johnson, Senior Advisor for Heritage and Legacy with the Niagara Parks Commission and Plenty Canada, Indigenous Advisor to Lord Cultural Resources and Executive Producer of the multiple award-winning documentary, RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World. Both are former Smithsonian Institution executives.