Land Acknowledgement
The OCAD U 2022 Inclusive Design cohort would like to acknowledge the physical indigenous lands that connect us all while we are engaging in a virtual space. We ask visitors to take a moment to identify and acknowledge the indigenous land(s) they are joining us from.
Our cohort acknowledges the Indigenous lands on which we live and study across Turtle Island. OCAD University as well as many of our cohort are located in Ontario. Toronto is located on the ancestral and traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe and the Huron-Wendat who are the original owners and custodians of the land on which they stand. Ottawa is located on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation. Durham Region is located on the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. These lands are covered under the Williams Treaties and the traditional territory of the Mississauga, a branch of the great Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi.
Edmonton, Alberta is located on Indigenous land in Treaty 6 territory. Land occupied, travelled, and cared for by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. This place – ᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ, amiskwacîwâskahikan, Edmonton – is a traditional meeting ground, gathering place, and travelling route of the Nêhiyawak (Cree), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Dene, and Nakota Sioux.
On the west coast, we would like to acknowledge the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the traditional land of the Coast Salish people around Seattle, Washington.
We would also like to recognize the Indigenous lands and peoples in which the digital platforms facilitating this exhibition specifically impact. Pressbooks is headquartered in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal on the unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk Nation. Zoom is headquartered in San Jose, California, on the traditional lands of the Ohlone and Tamyen peoples. YouTube is headquartered in San Mateo, California, on the traditional lands of the Ohlone and Ramaytush peoples.
If you would like to learn more about land acknowledgments or the history and present contexts of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, we invite you to follow the links below as a starting point:
About Land Acknowledgements: https://native-land.ca/territory-acknowledgement/
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action: https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Report: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
