Welcome / Bienvenue / She:kon [Say go: Mohawk word for hello] Aanii [A knee: Algonquin word for hello] Boozhoo [Boo ju: Ojibway word for hello] Waychaya [Wa chay ya: Cree word for hello] Kwey Kwey [Kway Kway: Oji-Cree word for hello] Tawnsh [Tawn she: Métis word for hello]
Today we begin our gathering with a statement for you to reflect on the deep and originally rooted connections Indigenous persons and ancestors have maintained and protected within this place and land for thousands of years.
This land has been inhabited for millennia by many nations. They have protected and cared for the land we now call Ontario, home. We affirm that we are all settlers on this land and acknowledge that the Alliance of Arts Councils of Ontario operates within the ancestral Territory and Treaty Lands of 133 First Nations. The Ojibway/Chippewa, the Anishinaabeg, the Mushkegowuk (Cree), the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat Peoples and many more diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples.
The AACO resides in a province that is covered by 46 treaties in total. We would like to acknowledge The Dish with One Spoon wampum belt treaty. Dish with One Spoon is an ancestral legal agreement between the governing bodies of the Wendat, Attawanderon (Neutral), Anishnaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples regarding the use of the land’s resources, and their commitment to future generations needs from the land.
The AACO continues to strive for a journey of understanding, inclusion, collaboration and repair towards this land and its waters, with those who are entrusted with its keepsake.