Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the land where we gather, work, and meet on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, and now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Métis. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit, that we all have share responsibility to the land, as well as one another.

Each year the Toronto Public Library publishes a Read Indigenous list, organized into adult, teen, and children categories. It is by no means exhaustive, but a great place to start if you haven’t read or been exposed to the literary work of Indigenous authors.

Understanding the work of Truth and Reconciliation is essential if we are to contend with a dark era of colonial history, along with the profound and ongoing wounds that have been perpetrated on this soil to our fellow humans. made up of Indigenous residential school survivors, their families, communities, former residential school employees, and the Government of Canada. In 2015, a detailed report covering the harm committed to First Nations people in residential schools was released by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. You can read their full report as well as articles and other media on the Commission’s website.

Finally, Chelsea Vowel published an updated version of her take on traditional land acknowledgments in 2024. It is a thoughtful piece, and we would encourage anyone interested in reflections on their practice, place, and broader cultural value in shared and civil spaces to take a look.