The City of Wasaga Seaside has reworked its Indigenous land acknowledgement to be extra genuine and significant.
The City’s first land acknowledgement was taken word-for-word from the Township of Clearview in 2022.
Final 12 months, city workers labored to craft a brand new, real land acknowledgement that extra precisely acknowledges the City’s current and historic connection to Indigenous peoples.
“We have created this new land acknowledgement in cooperation with the Indigenous peoples, and it’s extremely suited to Wasaga Seaside,” stated Mayor Brian Smith.
On Friday, to mark Nationwide Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the mayor learn the brand new acknowledgement in entrance of the beachfront Wasaga Seaside signal alongside mayors from close by cities.
“Wasaga Seaside is situated on the historic lands of the Tionontati individuals, who have been half of a bigger Wyandot group till 1650,” the City famous. “The robust religious connection to the waterways for these First Nations teams is proudly highlighted within the City’s new land acknowledgement statements.”
The brand new acknowledgement will probably be utilized in lengthy and quick type throughout particular city council conferences.
The brand new land acknowledgement statements showcase inclusivity and reconciliation, the City stated.
It reads:
The City of Wasaga Seaside acknowledges it’s situated upon the normal territory of the Anishnaabe individuals of the Three Fires Confederacy.
We additionally acknowledge that the individuals of the Wyandot Nation additionally inhabited these lands.
We acknowledge that these nations have been sovereign nations current earlier than the arrival of settlers.
We respect the religious interconnection amongst these nations to the land and to the water.
We additionally acknowledge that waterways close to us have a protracted historical past predating European arrival.
Since time immemorial, waterways have been the lifeblood of the Indigenous individuals by commerce and looking routes.
We’re devoted to inclusivity of First Nations, Inuit and Metis individuals in our future stewardship of the land and the longest freshwater seashore on this planet.
Within the spirit of reconciliation, we welcome the chance of studying to be sustainable caretakers of the land and waterways for all future generations.
