Chippawa is a community located within the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.The village was founded in 1850, and became part of the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario by amalgamation in 1970. It is located on the Canadian shore of the Niagara River about 2 km upstream from Niagara Falls. It is bisected by the Welland River (also known locally as Chippawa Creek or The Crick). In historic documents, the name of the village and the river is sometimes spelled as Chippewa or Chippeway.Early historyFirst NationsWhile the area has undoubtedly been populated by First Nations people for many thousands of years, very few details from times before European contact are known. The French encountered a group of people whom they called the "Neutral Indians", because they lived between the more powerful and combative Huron to the north and Iroquois to the south, but were not involved in their wars (at least in recorded time). Eventually, however, the Neutral nation was wiped out by the Iroquois and almost nothing of their culture survives - the name by which they called themselves is not even known.Following the extermination of the Neutrals, the area was abandoned by the Iroquois and settled by a branch of the Chippewa nation, originating the former name of the river and subsequently the name of the village. The Mississauga, a branch of the Ojibwa, were actually the tribe present when the British first colonized the area and were the very first to sign a treaty in what is now Canada with the British government, giving the British access to a one-mile strip of land on the western shore of the Niagara to replace the portage they had lost on the eastern shore after the New England colonies separated from British rule. Once Niagara-On-The-Lake filled up with United Empire Loyalists the British began giving land grants to U.E.L and British veterans to settle in the late 18th century.
