Sugarcane & Maple takes up space on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, the Haudenosaunee, the Wendake-Nionwentsïo, and governed by the Williams Treaties.

These acknowledgments have, to me, always felt vapid. They typically include terms like “long standing relationships”, or being “guests” on the land, as if implying the land will be returned after our “usage” is over, or the “longstanding relationships” of these communities were comparable to the relationships European colonizers developed with this land and its first peoples centuries ago.

With that in mind, I have considered my placement on this land, and what these land acknowledgments mean for someone who is marginalized and othered on this land. My grandmother immigrated to Canada from Jamaica under Pierre Trudeau’s Immigration Act. My grandmother, born and raised Jamaican, felt the effects of British colonization beyond Jamaica’s independence in 1962 when she was deemed too dark skin to find substantial work in her home country. Coming to Canada, she was pigeonholed into nannying and cleaning work. 

Considering this, my grandmother immigrated due to necessity, and basic wellbeing. For this reason, I’ve struggled a bit with the word ‘settler’ for marginalized communities like my own, and what my identity means in colonized spaces when I’m being both oppressed and upheld simultaneously. 

I hold privilege in this space and on this land, even though my grandmother held less. I thank her immensely for the wellbeing and life of my mother and myself, and the opportunities I have received in my communities both here and back home as a result. However, the usage of the land and space due to necessity is also imperative to my life here, and my personal land acknowledgment. 

While I’m sure you’ve already been told or have looked up your personal addresses, as well as the addresses of your work and school spaces on Native Land Digital to see whose land you’re on, I strongly encourage you to really consider what your personal offerings and acknowledgments are, and how they are connected to your ancestry, your upbringing, and what led you to my small batch business website that was built on the land of the Mississaugas, Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendake-Nionwentsïo.

To close, I offer this. Most acknowledgments that hold merit long-term offer some sort of concrete offering. Awards get you monetary compensation and/or a commemorative statue, and completion of academic milestones get you diplomas. What more should our land acknowledgments offer? While we call out the names of the communities that have protected and cherished these lands, Stats Canada informs us that 33% (1 in 3) of off-reserve First Nations communities are food insecure, and lack consumable water (2022). I’m making my commitment to learn, give, and respect in ways that are as beneficial as possible to these communities, and while I know it is not nearly enough, I encourage you to think about and change your commitments, and engagement with this cherished land.

Thank you for your time and attention to this acknowledgment.