Land Acknowledgement

As we are hosting the workshop from Toronto, we would like to offer the following land acknowledgement:

Toronto, or Tkaranto, occupies a place that has been home to Indigenous peoples for over 15,000 years: the Huron-Wendat, Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is subject to the “Dish with One Spoon Wampum Treaty” between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas, and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share and protect this land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and Peoples, and settlers from all over the globe, have been welcomed into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect.

Tkaronto is now home to many First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. Recognizing where we stand is but one of many intentional acts for acknowledging injustices and committing ourselves individually and collectively to the path of truth and reconciliation.

Joining us from other places near and far, we encourage you to add your own words of land acknowledgement below to help us build that collective path of reconciliation.

Thank you for your submissions; access is now closed.

3 Community Land Acknowledgements

celia 9 months ago

I want [to] acknowledge the lands where I work and all that these lands give to the complex relationships that exist between us. As a city dweller in Tkaronto, I depend on and live with land, water and air every day. Because of the care that has been given over the years since Indigenous peoples, the Wendat, the Anishnabek, the Haudenosaunee began their relationships with these lands, because their relationships continue to this day even as many others join them here, I too want to continue to learn how best to contribute to caring for these lands in the ways the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant calls for.

Ayesha 2 years ago

Hello all, I am immigrant of colour and joining this workshop from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada – which exists on the treaty lands and territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit. I am grateful for the privilege to work, study, and live on this land and the opportunity to learn/unlearn how being an immigrant makes me complicit in settler colonialism and in upholding white supremacy. I am also grateful for the opportunity to attend and hear from folks who all want to advance Indigenous sovereignty, specifically focusing on data and its governance in this workshop. Thank you to the organizers, helpers, presenters, and other attendees from whom I have learned a lot.

Oy Lein Harrison 2 years ago

My name is Oy Lein Jace Harrison (she/her/they/them). Oy Lein is the name that was given to me to represent my Chinese heritage and Jace is the African name that was given to me to represent my Jamaican heritage. My parents and grandparents gave me my name as a reminder, so that I never forget where I come from. When I reflect on my responsibility to the traditional lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, I often struggle with the reality of what it means to be a Black woman on Indigenous lands. I revisit the gift of my name as a guide: “Oy” means love in Cantonese; “Lein” means precious; “Jace” means to create. My responsibility to the land is to treat her with the same love that I give to those who are precious in my life. And, my responsibility to the traditional caretakers of the land is to recreate the precious love that I find in my community in the work that I do with Indigenous communities.