Indigenous Landmarks & Monuments Review
For more information regarding the City of Hamilton’s Landmarks and Monuments Review contact Indigenous Relations.
Phone 905-546-2424
Email [email protected]
Landmarks & Monuments Review
The City is seeking community feedback on high-priority landmarks and monument sites that were identified as potentially problematic by Indigenous community members as part of the Honouring Our Roots Circle of Experts.
In June 2019, Hamilton City Council endorsed the City of Hamilton’s Urban Indigenous Strategy (UIS). The UIS was created through community consultation, and 40 actions were identified for the City to undertake to strengthen its path towards reconciliation.
As part of the UIS implementation, a staff team called the Indigenous Landmarks and Monuments Working Group was developed in 2020 to provide information and review existing and new landmarks, spaces and markers that reflect the full history of the Indigenous community in Hamilton.
In July 2021, Hamilton City Council directed staff to undertake a Review that will identify short and long-term opportunities to address Indigenous and historical landmarks, spaces and markers across the city.
In 2021-2022, the City worked with the Indigenous consulting firm, First Peoples Group to take on this work. First People’s Group engaged six Indigenous elders, historians, museum experts, and artists called the Circle of Experts to review statues, landmarks, monuments, and plaques in the City of Hamilton and to see how these sites impact Indigenous people. This work culminated in an Honouring Our Roots report hat identified five high-priority sites that may be potentially problematic to Indigenous people. The report also recommended the hiring of new City staff to take on this work specifically, including creating educational material on these high-priority sites, and then engaging with the public regarding them.
In 2023, two new employees were hired for the City of Hamilton’s Indigenous Relations Team to lead the next steps in the Landmarks and Monuments Review.