Kitchener lies approximately 100 km (62 mi) west of Toronto. As one of the pivotal cities within the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Kitchener serves as the administrative hub of the region. Historically recognized as Berlin until a pivotal referendum in 1916, the city spans an area of 136.86 km2 and boasted a population of 256,885 as per the 2021 Canadian census.
Within the broader context of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, encompassing a population of 575,847 individuals, Kitchener assumes significance as the 10th-largest census metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada and the fourth-largest CMA in Ontario. Often paired with its neighboring city, Waterloo, the duo is commonly referred to as "Kitchener–Waterloo" (K–W), although they maintain separate municipal administrations. This designation underscores the intertwined nature of their development and regional significance.
Before European contact, indigenous peoples inhabited the area that now encompasses Kitchener-Waterloo. As the ice sheets retreated during the last glacial maximum, nomadic populations utilized the newly opened landscape for hunting, camping, and sustenance. However, documentation of sites from the Paleo-Indian Period (13,000 BC to 1000 BC) in the region remains scarce due to the lack of archaeological evidence.
During the subsequent Archaic Period (8000 BC to 800 BC), nomadic hunter-gatherer communities flourished across the region. Technological advancements during this era included the adoption of less portable stone tools like axes and adzes, as well as more intricate tools crafted from animal bone such as fish hooks, gorges, and harpoons. Additionally, the introduction of Indigenous copper tools marked a notable development. Numerous archaeological sites from the Archaic Period, comprising campsites, tool manufacturing sites, and burial grounds, have been documented in the Waterloo Region, reflecting the vibrancy of indigenous life during this time.
Archaeological evidence suggests the expansion of the Neutral people into the Kitchener-Waterloo area during the Woodland Period (900 BC to 1650 AD), with historian Gary Warrick of Wilfrid Laurier University dating their arrival to the 1300s. By the 1500s, at least two aboriginal settlements had emerged near Schneider and Strasburg Creeks, where artifacts from a millennium ago have been unearthed. The Iroquoian people, who cultivated crops like corn, beans, and squash, left traces of their presence in the region. In 2010, the discovery of a 500-year-old First Nations village in the Strasburg Creek area shed light on the early inhabitants, believed to be ancestors of the Neutral Nation. The site yielded remnants of longhouses, bone and stone tools, and arrowheads, with artifacts dating back as far as 9,000 years.
In 2020, further archaeological excavations at Fischer-Hallman Road revealed artifacts from a Late Woodland Iroquois village inhabited circa 1300 to 1600. Archeologists unearthed approximately 35,000 objects, including stone tools and a 4,000-year-old arrowhead, providing additional insights into the indigenous history of the region.
