Every ClimateFast event begins with an Indigenous Land Acknowledgement specific to the location in which the event is being held.
Here is one example:
We acknowledge the sacred land on which we live and meet today. This land has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. It is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
We respect the sovereignty of the many Indigenous peoples and communities on whose land our work takes place. We are committed to honouring the laws, customs and values of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island and strive every day to work in ways that support true justice and meaningful reconciliation among peoples.
We recognize that decolonization must be an active and ongoing process of reconciliation and acknowledge how deeply we benefit from the way their culture and presence continue to nurture this land.
Resources:
To find out more about the Indigenous lands on which your meeting is taking place, see Native Land Territory Acknowledgement and Whose Land: Treaties and Agreements. Here are some other resources that may be helpful:
- Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory
- Books by an Indigenous writer: Best Books
- Podcasts: All My Relations, Media Indigena and Henceforward.
- Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice
- Toronto Nature Stewards Land Acknowledgement
- National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Reports and the NCTR Commission of Canada's Calls to Action
See a list of actions and resources compiled by Leadnow to help us remember that we have “the responsibility today, and every day, to work towards reconciliation and dismantle the genocidal legacy of the country we call Canada".