Land Acknowledgment

Introduction

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At ConnectByNature, a division of Biophilic Health Inc. our relationship with nature and the land is at the heart of what we do, and this Land upon which we live, work, and play tells an ancient story that offers Indigenous wisdom, little heard, and place-based knowledge including the perspectives of species in nature from which we can learn. In her book ‘Gathering Moss,’ Robin Wall Kimmerer describes “how stories from our oldest days tell about a time when all beings shared a common language- thrushes, trees, mosses, and humans. But that language has long been lost “ (p. vii).  We can listen and learn from these stories by taking notice of the natural world and each other’s ways of living (Wall Kimmerer, 2003), being, and relating- especially those without a voice. This includes taking notice and responsibility for the inequities and injustices that have taken place within Canadian society and continue to be perpetuated through a settler colonial way of thinking and being with the Land and nature.

 

Land Acknowledgment

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We reflect on the history and stewardship of these Lands and the harmful legacies of colonization on First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, including their relationship to the Land, and the natural world upon which all life depends. We  acknowledge and recognize that Canada and the government have undertaken brutal actions against Indigenous Peoples for generations with respect to health inequities, climate justice and other public challenges which need to be acknowledged, such as poverty and food and water security, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and  Treaties and policies such as the Indian Act which  Amnesty International, the United Nations, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission have labelled as a Human Rights abuse. 

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Our acknowledgement also recognizes all of the Indigenous children recovered in Canada, including the 97 children discovered at the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario, near to us, and we acknowledge and recognize the other children yet to be brought home and the suffering they endured.

 

We are deeply saddened and disturbed by this truth and we are sorry.

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Prior to European contact, the ancestors of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation lived lightly on the Lands they occupied and purposefully moved about the landscape harvesting resources as they became available. The Mississaugas of the Credit exercised stewardship over approximately 3.9 million acres of lands, waters, and resources within the geographical boundaries we call Canada. We acknowledge the Lands upon which we operate ‘ConnectByNature’ this present-day, as part of the Treaty and Traditional Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, (Crown Treaty Holders), the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Huron-Wendat and Wyandot Nations. We recognize these peoples and their ancestors as those who inhabited these lands since time immemorial. Their actions demonstrated appreciation, preservation, respect, and understanding of the importance of existing in harmony with the land, the water, and all living things.

 

This is ConnectedByNature's first step to bringing attention and showing respect to the Indigenous peoples who first maintained and appreciated these Lands and have so much to teach us. Our efforts to reconcile with Canada's Indigenous peoples continues as we listen to the  truth and take action to educate ourselves and our community about the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and together unearth the stories of the Land upon which we live, work, and play; and further, respond to the inequities and challenges facing Indigenous children and youth today, in collaboration and partnership with Indigenous organizations and educators, our Cultural Advisor, a registered band member of Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and Indigenous children and youth along with their families and caregivers.  

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Our Commitment

 

We commit to truth and reconciliation and the hard work of healing our relationships with Indigenous peoples we have harmed through our settler colonial way of thinking and approaches to healthcare that have failed to recognize and respect Indigenous ways of seeing, knowing, and healing; and we acknowledge as people rooted in our white settler ancestry in Canadian society, we continue to be privileged by and benefit from the legacy of colonialism.

 

We commit to improving the health outcomes of Indigenous children and youth, alongside their peers, through connection to nature and the Land that reflects the interconnectedness of all life and the wisdom inherent in nature, as modelled to us by Indigenous peoples in Canada and other place-based cultures from around the world; and we commit to holding a safe space for collaboration with Indigenous peoples, communities and organizations, for sharing stories and celebrating Indigenous ways of knowing, healing, and connecting to the Land and nature.

 

As we look toward the future, we hope to build  trusting, safe, and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous peoples, their communities, their families, and their children and youth, and work together to  co-create culturally appropriate programs and services  that will benefit Indigenous children and youth and serve to educate ourselves and the broader community.

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Reference: Kimmerer, R. W. (2003). Gathering moss: a natural and cultural history of mosses. First edition. Corvallis, OR, Oregon State University Press.