Meness: Tewin development signals a return for Algonquin people
There is a troubling tendency in this city to speak of reconciliation as a principle to be applauded, but not lived. Too often, Indigenous ambition is mistaken for overreach, and Indigenous vision dismissed as inconvenience. The Tewin project — slated for land southeast of the urban core — has been drawn into this recurring pattern, and it's time to break the cycle.
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Let's be clear: Tewin is not a conventional development. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the Algonquin people to reclaim space, purpose and visibility in a capital that was built on our unceded territory — territory that includes the traditional lands of Grand Chief Pierre Louis Constant Pinesi.
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A respected leader in the early 19th century, Chief Pinesi allied with the British during the War of 1812, leading Algonquin warriors more than 500 kilometres to help defend what is now Canada. His family's traditional hunting grounds spanned what we now call Ottawa: roughly 1,800 sq. km. bordered by the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers and extending south to Kemptville. These were not just lands; they were lifeways, relationships, ecosystems and stories.
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Before roads and farms, this was a living landscape: forested, biodiverse and travelled by birchbark canoe in summer and by snowshoe in winter. But waves of settlers soon transformed these lands, cutting forests, killing off game, building towns. Despite his loyalty and repeated petitions to the Crown, Chief Pinesi never saw recognition of Algonquin land rights. No treaty was signed. The land was taken: settled without consent, logged without compensation, governed without representation.
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Tewin is a response to that legacy. It is rooted in Algonquin values, designed around sustainability, and is a true partnership where Indigenous people have a seat at the table. It is not urban sprawl; it is a deliberate, planned community grounded in the internationally recognized One Planet Living framework. It will be compact, connected and climate-conscious, built with environmental sensitivity and long-term infrastructure planning.
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Still, some residents and City of Ottawa councillors continue to cast doubt on the project's legitimacy, or on the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) themselves, many of whom are direct descendants of Grand Chief Pinesi. That is not a policy critique; it is a microaggression. It echoes the long, tired refrain that not only must we justify ourselves, but now we must justify our presence in our own lands.
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