Land Acknowledgement 

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Tkaronto ("where there are trees in the water" in Mohawk) is the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee and the Mississaugas. This land is governed by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant (Gdoo Naaganinaa) between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Anishinaabeg. It is a law that describes the agreement to be co-stewards of the lands and water we share peacefully. The Dish With One Spoon is about taking only what we need, keeping the land clean and leaving some for the future. Indigenous Peoples have been on this land since time immemorial and it remains their ancestral lands to the Huron-Wendat, the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee and the Mississaugas. They continue to experience ongoing colonization and displacement- where land acknowledgements are offered in place of land itself.

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I live on Tkaronto as a settler, a second-generation immigrant whose ancestry comes from the Guangdong region of China. My parents arrived in Tkaronto in the 1980s to seek better opportunities that were not available in Hong Kong. They sought to create a better future for themselves and for their children, my sister and me. When they arrived on this land, they did not know about the original stewards of this land. They took a citizenship test that did not have any questions relating to the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples of this land. I grew up with parents had no relationship with Indigenous Peoples. I grew up listening to my parents calling Indigenous Peoples lazy and how luck they did not need to pay taxes. I learned that it was not fair for us, immigrants, that everyone needed to pay taxes but not Indigenous Peoples.

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In fact, I did not know Indigenous Peoples still lived in Canada as all that was taught in history classes was how the British and French arrived on this land and colonized it. Textbooks always discussed Indigenous Peoples as in the past, not vibrant nations and communities living in the present. The cities I lived in, Scarborough and Markham, did not have a noticeable Indigenous presence. I was surrounded by immigrants just like me and thought of Canada as a mosaic of races, ethnicities, and cultures. I did not know that part of this mosaic was missing, invisible and effectively erased from my history classes and books. I was proud to be Chinese Canadian, living in a country that represented peace and acceptance of differences.

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I did not know any better as a child. I was not educated about colonization, Residential Schools, eugenics, and historical and ongoing violence against Indigenous Peoples in Canada. I did not know to think critically or question where my parents’ beliefs came from. I just accepted it as truth.

 

I know now. I know the history of violence that continues to this day. I know my previous thoughts and actions, the way I saw Indigenous Peoples, were based on inaccurate perceptions and stereotypes. I recognize the harm I have caused by perpetuating stereotypes. I recognize that I am a bystander to injustice and the cycle of violence.

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As an immigrant, as a guest on this land, as a settler of colour, as an educator and psychotherapist, I will no longer be a bystander. From the micro to the macro, I am working and continue to work on how my words and actions, thoughts and assumptions have impacted Indigenous Peoples. I will no longer sit by and allow my parents to perpetuate stereotypes. I will educate them to the best of my abilities to ensure they understand the history of violence and how it has impacted and continues to impact Indigenous Peoples. As an educator, I have the responsibility to teach and guide students when they learn about Indigenous Peoples and how their words and thoughts can perpetuate cycles of violence and harm.

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As an Expressive Arts Therapist, a psychotherapist, I hold an awareness of the historical and present harms of the Global Minority colonial psychiatric models and institutions. I am continually working on how to decolonize the psychotherapy tradition from Western and colonial roots. As I work towards right relations and sustainability, I will take intentional action to learn and embody anti-oppressive practices, reduce harms, and engage in the process of conscious and genuine repair. I acknowledge that the wisdoms of healing through the body, the arts and relationships of reciprocity come from traditional teachings in Indigenous, Black and Global Majority communities. With humility, I am committed to lifelong learning, listening and anti-oppressive actions necessary as a therapist to create a safe enough space for open, vulnerable, and reciprocal connections and relations.

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Every child matters. Here are places to support, learn or donate:

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Indian Residential School Survivor Society

Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program

Legacy of Hope Foundation

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Some Resources

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Kuper Island, 2022

Eight-part podcast series by Anishinaabe reporter Duncan McCue. He interviews survivors and pieces together moving stories of four people who attended Kuper Island residential school.

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Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s, 2022

Podcast series by Cree journalist Connie Walker, awarded a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award. “An arresting blend of family history and investigative journalism.”

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The Ballantyne Project, A Perspective on Canadian History You Might Not Know, 2020

The video gives two versions of Canadian history: one we were taught in our schools and the other based on Indigenous sources.

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Indigenous Canada, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta 

Free self-paced, e-learning course. It spans history and contemporary issues, filling in the gaps in our school education and providing context for the news stories of today. As a supplement, join actor Dan Levy’s discussions with course creators here.

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Richard Wagamese. Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations, 2016

Brief evocative spiritual reflections grouped into seven chapters: Stillness, Harmony, Trust, Reverence, Persistence, Gratitude, and Joy.

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