In a recent project that I was involved with, there was a point where our Indigenous team consultant, called us to reflect on our own relationships with the land that we are on and how colonization continues to shape our roles in the project and the setup and implications of the project itself. I am very grateful to have been called to this active reflection. The following is my personal land acknowledgement which I will edit and revise as I continue to live/work/learn/love on this earth.

I acknowledge and express deep gratitude for the land that I get to be on – the land that I get to raise my kids on,  the land that I get to love on – the land on which I was born, the trees that give me life, and all the waters that give me life and spirit- and to which I am deeply connected.

I acknowledge that the caretakers of these places for time immemorial have been the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island. The land on which I have lived, between Naadowewi-gichigami (Lake Huron), Waabishkiigoo-gichigami (Lake Erie) and Nigaani-gichigami (Lake Ontario) has been cared for, nurtured, stewarded by the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Mississauga, Attiwonderonk, and the Anishnabewaki nations. They have taken care of this earth, water and air, they have lived in balance and in harmony with and of these lands – my family, my loves, the communities that I am part of, we benefit immeasurably  from the care that these nations have provided and the relationships that they have nurtured with these lands and waters.

I acknowledge that the rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island, to maintain their relationship with the land and, hand-in hand- their survival, autonomy, and lives,  were and continue to be, violently torn apart by colonial actions.

I have the responsibility, as a white settler, to make visible, to challenge and to disrupt the systems that benefit me – the political systems that degrade Indigenous sovereignty , the ways of thinking and doing that are violent towards Indigenous Peoples, the social structures that harm Indigenous people’s relationships with one another, and the ways of being that endanger, violently obstruct and render invisible, Indigenous Peoples’ relationships with this land and with Mother earth.

As a white settler I also have the responsibility to educate myself and my kids about the land on which we live, the history of this land, and our responsibilities to protect and maintain this land.

My most honest commitment right now, the place where I see the current me in relation to a recommitment to building trusting relationships between settlers and Indigenous Peoples, is in the realm of disrupting harmful ways of relating to one another –I’ve got a lot of learning and work to do.