We acknowledge that the Land on which caterToronto operates is part of the traditional territory of the many Indigenous Nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Seneca, the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat peoples. This land is now home to many diverse Indigenous Peoples and settlers, shared with natural and built elements of a habitat that includes animals, flora, and waterways. 

We respect the evolving connections that Indigenous Peoples have to this Land and recognize that we are beneficiaries of their stewardship, generosity, and sovereignty. We acknowledge that the history of this land is one of colonization, imperialism, displacement, and systemic injustice. 

In recognition of the history and enduring presence of Indigenous Peoples in this area, we pay respect to their past and present Elders. We express our gratitude and appreciation for the opportunities to live and work on their traditional territory; to decolonize and re-Indigenize relationships that are better for all living things sharing this Land. We wholeheartedly acknowledge and agree that this is a commitment to an effortful and embodied, continuous process of caring together.  

Our understanding of Land Acknowledgements

Land acknowledgements are shared declarations that serve to educate, affirm, and inspire learning about the traditions and territories of Indigenous Peoples. They are often meant as an act of reconciliation. 

Our Land Acknowledgement is an act and active

Here and now, in Tkaronto, in the context of historical and ongoing processes of colonialism and the impacts on Indigenous Peoples, caterToronto offers its Land Acknowledgement as a living, evolving, dynamic marker of the present, amid a longstanding history, and an unfolding future.

We deeply believe in “walking the talk,” even as sometimes we stumble or move slowly. Similarly, we know that Land acknowledgements do not exist in the past tense, nor historical context, nor as if once said or written, that it’s ever “over” and “done like dinner.” Colonialism and imperialism have and continue to pervade our relations to the land and to one another. We are actively committed to our shared responsibilities to unlearning and learning ways that critically engage and support the “Dish With One Spoon” wampum peace agreement: 

To learn more about Dish With One Spoon, and how this wampum agreement aligns to Land acknowledgements, see Facing History & Ourselves: The Dish With One Spoon Wampum (Webinar 2) featuring Lorrie Gallant, Erez Zobary, and Jasmine Wong.