Presenting the Moccasin Identifier Project

Nieuport is proud to partner with the Moccasin Identifier to promote public awareness of the ancestral presence of Indigenous people and communities at the Billy Bishop Toronto Centre Airport (BBTCA). Our airport sits on the Treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, a partner of the Moccasin Identifier.

Carolyn King, former Chief of the Mississauga's of the Credit First Nation, founded the Moccasin Identifier in 2011 with a purpose to “advance Treaty and Indigenous awareness by covering Canada in moccasins.” Improving Treaty and Indigenous awareness through education directly benefits Truth and Reconciliation.

The Moccasin was chosen to represent what connects each Indigenous person to the land. Each design is unique to the nation and groups that created them, a reflection of the diversity of the ancestral cultures that existed before the first settlers arrived.  

We are proud to be the first airport in Canada to support and host a Moccasin Identifier.

Keep reading to learn about each moccasin and its origins.

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‍Moccasins on the Pillars

‍Seneca Moccasin - Native tanned deer skin with applied beaded decoration on black velvet. Two-piece construction with textile apron inserted between forepart sides of bottom unit. Back T-seam. Lined with white and pink textile. Added black velvet collar. Native tanned deer skin, silk, thread, velvet, beads and paper. 

Seneca Nation - To learn more about the Seneca Nation of Indians - Allegany & Cattaraugus, New York,        visit: www.sni.org

Haudenosaunee Community - Several Haudenosaunee communities are located in Ontario and throughout the New York State. To learn more about these communities, visit: www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com

Anishinaabe Moccasin - Pair of eastern woodland moccasins with gathered centre front seam, decorated with red and white quills and tin cones on each shoe. Decorated cuffs are separate pieces, and have been attached with sinew thread. Quill decoration also on the centre back seam. White quill lines along front and back edge of collars have red pigment. The mishupishu design along collar has stylized reference of symbolic cross-hatching and the double peek refers to the ears of the underwater panther.

Huron-Wendat Moccasin - Black smoked native tanned deerskin embroidered moccasins. Two piece construction with deerskin apron inserted into up turned crimped fore part of the bottom unit. Back seam. Straights. Thread sewn. Attached deer skin collar with red silk binding and ties. Apron and collar embroidered in moose hair and quill dyed red, blue, green, yellow, pink, and orange with floral designs within a blue and white geometric and curvilinear border.

Huron-Wendat Nation - This nation is ancestral to the Great Lakes Region and reside north of Quebec City. To learn more about them, visit: www.wendake.ca

Cree Moccasin - These moccasins originate from the Red River area from about 1820. Two-piece moccasins have an apron inserted at the top of the foot. Quill work is woven separately on a loom and then applied to each apron and suspended from the collars. Geometric patterns form triangles, stars, chevrons, and thunderbirds. Three bands of bird quill piping decorate the joint between the apron and bottom pieces.

Cree First Nations - There are a number of Cree First Nations located throughout Northern Ontario. To connect to a specific community, visit: http://firstnation.ca/

The Artist - Karly Cywink

Karly Cywink is an Indigenous multidisciplinary artist with work that ranges from filmmaking, communications and design, traditional painting, and photography. To learn more about Karly and her work, visit the following pages:

Website: www.karlycywink.com

Instagram: @karlycywinkart

Twitter: @KarlyCywink‍

First Nations - The Mississaugas of the Credit

The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) are the treaty keepers of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

To learn more, visit:

www.mncfn.ca/about-mncfn/treaty-lands-and-territory

www.moccasinidentifier.com

Moccasin photos courtesy of the Bata Shoe Museum

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