Acknowledgment and Thanks
Introduction
This book was made possible with funding from the Government of Ontario – Ministry of Colleges and Universities. It was supported through the province’s Virtual Learning Strategy, by eCampusOntario – a provincially funded, not-for-profit consortium supporting the open education community at large.
The partnership between Lakehead, Nipissing, Algoma and Laurentian Universities furthers a collaboration that began with the Borealis Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning in August 2020 (a joint effort to provide professional development at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic).
Land Acknowledgement
This book resides within a virtual space, but we cannot forget that we are still sitting on traditional Indigenous lands that have been inhabited long before us. The ground we each walk upon has a specific history; a nuanced relationship with Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island. In this co-constructed virtual text, we want to acknowledge the territories that our respective universities reside upon.
Algoma University
Algoma sits on the traditional lands of Anishnaabeg, specifically the Garden River and Batchewana First Nations, as well as the Métis People, Signatory to the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850.
Lakehead University
Lakehead Thunder Bay, sits on the traditional lands of Fort William First Nation, Signatory to the Robinson Superior Treaty of 1850.
Lakehead Orillia is located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, including the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Pottawatomi nations, collectively known as the Three Fires Confederacy.
Laurentian University
Laurentian University is located on the traditional lands of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and that the City of Greater Sudbury, also includes the traditional lands of the Wahnapitae First Nation, Signatory to the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850.
l’Université Laurentienne se trouve sur les terres traditionnelles des Atikameksheng Anishnawbek et que la Ville du Grand Sudbury comprend également celles de la Première Nation de Wahnapitae. Signataire du traité Robinson-Huron de 1850.
Nipissing University
Nipissing University sits on the territory of Nipissing First Nation, the territory of Anishnabek, within lands protected by the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850.
We are humbled by the histories of and on this land, and deeply grateful for the contributions of Indigenous peoples, as stewards of the land, for their cultures, their languages, and their wise teachings; their protection of Mother Earth including the finned, feathered, and crawlers of the land; and to their ways of being, seeing, and speaking. We are all grateful to be able to live and learn on these lands with all our relations.
Why Do We Acknowledge the Land?
Land acknowledgements are used to “express gratitude to those who reside here, and to honour the Indigenous peoples who have lived and worked on this land historically and presently” (University of Toronto, 2021). Land acknowledgements demonstrate and reaffirm a commitment to our shared responsibilities of improving our understandings of Indigenous peoples and their cultures, to acknowledge the harms of past mistakes, to recognize that colonialism is ongoing, and to commit to a peaceful, shared path forward as we take action toward Truth and Reconciliation.
Use the following links to learn more about Land Acknowledgements in your city, province, state, or country:
- Whose Land if you reside in Canada
- #HonorNativeLand if you reside in the United States
This book, and the project it is based upon, was made possible with funding by the Government of Ontario and through eCampusOntario’s support of the Virtual Learning Strategy. To learn more about the Virtual Learning Strategy visit: https://vls.ecampusontario.ca.
