Acknowledgment and thanks
Introduction
The overarching objective of this 4-module course will be to facilitate the development of any person who seeks to create quality, technology-enhanced (digital) learner experiences. Learners will leave the course able to take the best resources and experiences from this course and apply them to the design and structures of their own courses. This course 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 University and Nipissing University 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
We are coming together in 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. As a co-constructed virtual space, we want to acknowledge the territories that our respective universities reside upon.
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.
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.
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 project is 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.
