Acknowledgement of Traditional Land
Sharing stories is at the foundation of TWM’s mission. As we encourage newcomers to Canada to share their stories of immigration, we also encourage them to hear and respond to the stories of Canada’s First Nations. That story begins at least 15,000 years ago on the territory where we all now live—lands that are traditional territories of the peoples of Turtle Island.
The lands that are now Toronto are the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
Today, Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. The TWM is grateful to live and work with them and with newcomers on this territory.
Living on this territory makes all people in Toronto treaty peoples, including those who come as settlers, or immigrants of this generation or earlier generations, including those brought involuntarily as a result of the TransAtlantic Slave Trade.
For more information, please visit the City of Toronto’s Indigenous Affairs Office and the Tkaronto Indigenous Peoples Portal (TIPP).