Land Acknowledgement

I grew up, continue to live, and continue to conduct business on the lands of the Anishinaabe, the Attiwonderonk, and the Mississaugas. For most of my life, I did not recognize this or take responsibility for both my presence as an unwelcomed colonial resident of this land nor my privilege as a colonizer. Now, I still have so much work left to do to foster meaningful and personal connections with the land and the Indigenous caretakers whose land I inhabit.

I recognize that Western education, of which I have been a complicit part for all my life and which I am a leader in now as an instructor, has long been violently weaponized in the genocide of Indigenous peoples.

I am grateful to all the Indigenous authors, artists, and educators who have helped me in my current understanding of myself as a visitor on this land. I am also grateful to the non-Indigenous educators who have been allies who have helped me get here too.

I strive to work towards reconciliation and connection, not just in this course, but in my life as a whole.