The Council was formed over 15 years ago as a means to preserve and protect our identity and culture in a rapidly changing society in which ties to the past can become quickly forgotten or undervalued.  
 
In addition to our interest in preserving our cultural ways and beliefs, representatives of the Council have been engaged in a struggle to have our Aboriginal identity formally recognized under Canadian law and policies because Canada has never adopted into law some of the Treaties, or portions thereof, that some of our early ancestors were signatories to and that our people on both sides of the now Canada-US border have been impacted by.  
 
However, some important gains have been made in recent years and we are hopeful that we will soon be recognized as a unique and valued part of Canada's Aboriginal community that provides a new perspective on historical European- Aboriginal relations in North America, which we call "Turtle Island".