Acknowledgement

Land Acknowledgement and African Ancestral Acknowledgement We would like to start by acknowledging that the land that we are on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Ontario is covered by 46 treaties and other agreements, and is home to many indigenous Nations from across Turtle Island, including the Inuit and the Metis. These treaties and other agreements, including the One Dish with One Spoon Wampam Belt Covenant are agreements to peaceably share and care for the land and its resources. Other indigenous Nations, Europeans, newcomers were invited into this covenant in the spirit of respect, peace and friendship. We are mindful of broken covenants and we strive to make this right, with the land and with each other. We are all treaty people. Many of us, have come here as settlers, immigrants, newcomers in this generation or generations past. We would also like to acknowledge those of us who came here forcibly, particularly as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Therefore, We honour and pay tribute to the ancestors of African Origin and Descent.