Bread and Cheese Day began in the 1860s by Queen Victoria.  Not wanting her First Nations “children” to go hungry on her birthday, Queen Victoria ordered that bread and cheese be distributed to them in celebration.  Along with the handing out of bread and cheese, the holiday also included speeches and addresses by Chiefs and visiting local dignitaries from the surrounding communities celebrating the Six Nations role in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Six Nations’ historic connection to the British Crown.  Due to Queen Victoria’s death, the holiday was stopped in 1901, but was revived in 1924 by the newly created Six Nations elected band council.

Brian Maracle, Back on the Rez: Finding the Way Home (Toronto: Penguin Books, 1997), 211-212.