Territorial Acknowledgement

Our team is made up of settlers and their descendants, living and working in what we now call Southern Ontario as a result of a long and continued process of colonization towards Indigenous people.

While we feel incredibly grateful to be on this beautiful land, we also grapple with it. We are committed to that grappling, to decolonizing our space and our processes, and to exploring ways to work in solidarity with all Indigenous peoples, especially those who call this place home.

Before colonization, the lands we call home were the homes of the Wendat, the Anishinabewaki, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Neutral Confederacy / Attawandaron, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the Métis Nation.

The treaties with European settlers aren’t the first on this land. This territory was and still is the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Ojibwe and allied nations to live in peace and cooperation on this land.

The Toronto Purchase also known as Treaty 13 which deeded this land from Indigenous peoples to Europeans was and is unethical for all kinds of reasons — the amount of land claimed by Europeans exceeded the land in the agreement, communication about the nature of land ownership was ambiguous and it’s not clear whether Indigenous people even actually signed the final contract, or a blank contract that was later written up.

And while we remember this heartbreaking chapter in our history, we also know that it’s not history at all.

Indigenous people in our community and beyond continue to face violence and obstacles placed by colonialism, including the Canadian government’s attempts to assimilate Indigenous people into dominant culture, the racism that exists in Canada today, and even basic human rights issues like lack of clean water or affordable food.

This wouldn’t be complete without also acknowledging the resilience of of Indigenous people, their cultures, languages and communities. This is a history and political climate filled with strength, survival, resilience, creativity and power.

Each season, as a studio, we take action in solidarity with Indigenous initiatives in Canada.

This spring, we’ve made a donation to the Muskoka Indigenous Friends Cultural Centre, an Indigenous-led cultural center, which just opened a new branch in Huntsville. In addition to the financial donation, we're in conversation about offering free workshops for their community later in the season.

We strive to make our gatherings into places where healing can occur, truths can be told, and hidden stories can be unearthed. We also strive to never take for granted the privilege and complexity of living and working on this land.

If you are also a settler on this land and you feel moved to take actions towards reconciliation, there are some readings below to help you find your path.

First Story Toronto is a small, local organization devoted to researching and preserving the Indigenous history of Toronto. Among other things, they have released an app and bus tour to help people learn about Indigenous history in Toronto.

The Toronto Public Library publishes an annual Read Indigenous list (organized into adult, teen and children categories), it is a great place to start if you haven’t read many works by Indigenous authors.

A short video about the history of Indigenous peoples and settlers on the land that’s now called Toronto.

Nahanee Creative is a Squamish educational organization based in BC who work to catalyze social change to transform colonial narratives & impacts with decolonial facilitation, communication & design. They run courses, publish workbooks and consult. Their workshop on territorial acknowledgements helped us a lot in writing this one.

Muskrat Magazine is an online Indigenous literary magazine packed with great articles and links to Indigenous arts and culture events.

Indigenous Lives Matter, an excellent article about the responsibilities of non-Indigenous allies in the wake of Colten Boushie’s murder trial.

Indigenous Cultural Competency Training is a one-day course offered by the Native Canadian Center of Toronto, it is designed for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the way our historical context colours our day-to-day.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada is an organization whose mandate is to collect stories of survivors of residential schools and to educate the Canadian public about what happened during this era of our history. It’s made up of Indigenous residential school survivors, their families, communities, former residential school employees and the Government of Canada.  In 2015 they released a detailed report about the harm committed to First Nations people in residential schools. You can read their full report as well as articles and other media about the Commission’s work on their website.

Nish Dish and Tea-N-Bannock are both wonderful Indigenous-run restaurants in Toronto, where eaters can sample traditional Indigenous food.

MEDIA INDIGENA is a weekly Indigenous current affairs podcast.

Secret Life of Canada is a CBC podcast that highlights the people, places and stories that have often been overlooked by the dominant culture.

Looking for a place to get away and write? Here are six Indigenous-owned spaces in Ontario.

A thoughtful take on traditional land acknowledgements by Indigenous writer and educator Chelsea Vowel aka âpihtawikosisân.

Goodminds is an independent, Indigenous-run bookstore based in Brantford, Ontario that also sells books online.

Groundwork for Change is a website created by non-Indigenous people to provide information for fellow non-Indigenous people to grow better relationships with Indigenous peoples that are rooted in solidarity and justice.

Toronto’s only First Nations School, formerly the Wandering Spirit Survival School, recently moved to the East End (a short walk from the studio) where they could expand into high school programming.

Thoughts about this acknowledgement?

Critique, questions? We’re here for it. We’re still learning how to do this. We probably always will be. Drop us a line, we’re listening.

We are very grateful for the guidance of Terry Swan, founder of Wahkohtowin Consulting (and wonderful writer who has been around our table many times) and Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee, founder of Nahanee Creative, whose guidance helped us to write this statement.