When I was 14, I left my home in the Netherlands and immigrated to the Prairies, and from there moved to Toronto, Peterborough and London. In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, I acknowledge that these places, where I have felt safe and welcome, are situated on the traditional homes and territories of many first nations.
The traditional, ancestral, unceded land of the Báxoǰe (Bah Kho-je) or Ioway, Sauk (Sac), and Meskwaki (Fox) peoples;
the lands of the Cree, Dakota, Nakota, Saulteaux (SO-TOE) and the homeland of the Métis Nation;
the lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples;
the traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishinaabeg;
the shared territory between the Neyaashiinigmiing (Cape Croker), Saugeen, and Beausoleil First Nation Peoples;
the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron Peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.
I acknowledge and honour the urban Indigenous populations, including First Nation, Métis, and Inuit, who live on Turtle Island, including in Toronto and London.
