CREDIT — Moccasin Identifier (MI) is expanding its efforts to educate Canadians about First Nations history, treaty rights, and more with a new national plan launching September 30, 2026.
Executive Director Laurie Froman gave an overview of what drove Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) member Carolyn King to found MI.
—Submitted photo.
“It came from an ideal,” said Froman. “There is an ancestor named Nahneebahwequay (Catherine Sutton). She’s very important to the history of (MCFN).”
Nahneebahwequay travelled to England to present a petition of land grievances to Queen Victoria, requesting title to land on the Saugeen Peninsula. While the Queen issued instructions for MCFN to be granted legal title to the lands, Froman said those orders were never carried out.
“The Mississaugas of the Credit were eventually forced to relocate from the shores of the Credit River to their current location,” she said.
MI arose from the symbol King created to commemorate Nahneebahwequay’s homestead when a golf course was being erected around it in the late 1990s.
“It took her three days. She said she thought about what could connect First Nations across Canada and what would be a unifying symbol that we could use,” said Froman on the use of the moccasin symbol. “It’s our footwear that would connect us, right? And that’s how this initiative was born.”
MI’s early work brought them into various schools, educating children about Indigenous culture and history.
“Over the years now, it has grown,” said Froman. “Now we do treaty education awareness not only in the schools, but also organizations, non-profit, for-profit, the private sector. We offer treaty education, but we also offer a foundational level of learning as well in regard to cultural awareness and accountability.”
Since October 2025, MI has expanded its portfolio to include cultural safety.
“We’re also working on … additional workshops to offer, such as traditional games and medicines included in our portfolio,” said Froman.
Physical moccasin installations are another priority: “We’re working with a number of different organizations and municipalities right now and a number of different universities in regard to these installations.”
Froman said the installation type varies by location.
“Some organizations have painted murals. The City of Hamilton, for example, they decided to purchase boulders and actually put moccasins within that boulder,” she explained. “York University put moccasins in their pavers, so sort of like a wayfinding tool…. It’s really great work because it’s creative work, and it really depends on what the organization envisions for themselves.”
Prior to joining MI, Froman spent years working at Six Nations. She was working as a consultant when the executive director job posting went up.
“I guess it really spoke to me personally because it’s in regard to treaty education and treaty awareness, and actually, really, relationship building,” said Froman. “I think that’s what really interested me, and the history, the cultural aspect of the position.”
She called the moccasin a great symbol and gateway into learning more about Canada’s First Nations history, calling it an “all-encompassing symbol that relates to First Nations people, and it’s really easily identifiable by any nation of people.”
Froman also touched on the new national plan: “The Moccasin Identifier has had four moccasins that we were using, and they were based on the linguistic groups of Ontario. We had the Wendat, the Cree, the Anishinaabe, and the Seneca to represent the Haudenosaunee.”
For the new plan, MCFN artist Cathie Jamieson consulted with various Elders and knowledge keepers across Canada to ensure that the new moccasins included were historically correct. She also worked with the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto on the designs, which Froman said has “the largest collection of footwear in the world.”
Jamieson was responsible for nine of the 11 new moccasin stencils, while artist Gerald Gloade designed the other two.
Froman noted this brings the national education kit to 15 moccasin designs. “The new moccasins actually represent the traditional territory of the First Nations of what are now the capital cities of Canada.”
Along with the new designs is new educational content for ages 3 and up.
“We had an educational consultant work on this content and divide it into primary, middle school, and also high school learning,” said Froman. “We also worked with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan to finalize the educational content with us.”
She called developing the new plan an “immense amount of work,” and directed those interested in MI’s work to visit them online at moccasinidentifier.com.
“The website is really well laid out. There is free educational content, free educational curriculum from Grades K-12 in regard to treaty education,” she said, noting those interested can book a presentation through the site as well.
