Going Further with the
Land Acknowledgement
Tanya Talaga - Author
Keynote Speaker Tanya Talaga
TDSB Secondary English and ESL/ELD Symposium
Feb 14, 2025
- Tanya Talaga is member of Fort William First Nation, an author and investigative journalist. Used to work at Toronto Star
- Dr. Susan Dion referenced her book, Seven Fallen Feathers on P.29 of Braided Learning as "one she couldn't put down and every Canadian should read the shocking and disturbing truth behind the story of seven youth found dead in Thunder Bay, Ontario."
Her Latest Book: The Following
- Family mystery about women in their family and what happened to her great-grandmother Annie Carpenter
- It was very difficult to find information about her as the government said there were no records of her. Many records were destroyed.
- It took a team of researchers and eight decades
- The book title came from a phrase - “This is our knowing” that she heard one of residential school survivors say when they talked about the missing children in 2021 on the grounds of the Kamloops residential school
- The idea that, for generations, Indigenous People have known their family and community members were disappearing in residential schools, Indian hospitals, sanatoriums and asylums
- "Every Indigenous family is missing loved ones" she wrote
- Kamloops Indian Residential School, British Columbia was designated a National Historic Site in 2024
- https://www.knowhistory.ca/
Tanya Spoke About:
- Strength of Indigenous women and leadership roles in communities
- The women were not spoken about unless tied to the name of an explorer yet they played a critical role. They taught the explorers essential skills for living on the land (e.g., how to fish, hunt, gather food, and survive in the elements).
- Their knowledge of the land, its resources, and survival practices was invaluable to the European settlers but they were often written out of stories
- Generational effects of colonization
- True First Nations narrative and how it hasn't been shared to the extent it should be and how the curriculum has to be fully changed across Canada
- Only one dozen of 94 Calls to Action have been fulfilled in 10 years since TRC report
CBC Documentary
World Premiere September 12, 2024 at Toronto International Film Festival. Shown in full.
Uncovering an oral history of Tkaronto
Calls to Action
Treaty & Agreements
Treaty & Agreements:
Here are some websites to explore positioning and identifying Indigenous Nations, Territories, and Communities across Canada:
- Native Land
- Whose Land
- Map of Ontario Treaties and Reserves
- The Toronto Purchase Booklet
Map of Ontario Treaties
and Reserves
Whose Land
The Toronto Purchase
Native Land
ETFO Resource
A toolkit for selecting equitable and culturally relevant and responsive resources
Toolkit FSL
Toolkit Math
Toolkit Literacy
Urban Indigenous
Education Centre
Land Acknowledgement & Treaties
UIEC Educational Resources
Hiawatha Wampum Belt
Excerpt from Indigenous Ingenuity:
The Hiawatha Belt is extremely old. This belt was created at the beginning of our confederacy of peace. We do not know when this belt created, but we know we have had this belt long before the French, Dutch and English explorers made their way to our lands.
When the peace was made between the 5 nations, the Peacemaker told us to think of us all living together under one longhouse. Just like a longhouse, every nation will have their own council fire to govern their people. But they will govern their people under one common law, one heart, and one mind. The Peacemaker changed 50 evil thinking men to good thinking men (Hoyane/Chiefs) to lead the path towards peace for the people. The Peacemaker also gave the power to the women (Clan Mothers) to replace and remove the leaders. The Hiawatha belt is comprised of 5 symbols joined together and when reading the nations of the belts, we follow the path of the sun, starting in the East.
- The first nation on the belt and the first nation to accept the peace is the Mohawk, our Eastern Doorkeeper of our common longhouse. Any nation willing to enter the lands of the Haudenosaunee from the east must seek permission from the Mohawks first. There are 9 Hoyane (Chiefs) sitting in the Mohawk Council.
- The next symbol represents the council fire of the Oneida, the People of the Standing Stone. There are 9 Hoyane (Chiefs) sitting in the Oneida Council.
- The third symbol (the tree) represents Onondaga. Here the Peacemaker uprooted the tallest white pine, the Tree of Peace, which leaders buried their weapons of hate, jealousy, and war beneath it (they buried the hatchet). Since Onondaga lies in the middle of the peace, the Peacemaker also titled them the Firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee. The Onondaga are entrusted to keep the council fire to continue burning for the confederacy to come and meet. This often referred to as the fire that never dies. There are 14 Hoyane (Chiefs) sitting in the Onondaga Council.
- The fourth symbol is that of the council fire of the Cayuga, the People of the Swamp. There are 10 Hoyane (Chiefs) sitting in the Cayuga Council.
- The fifth symbol belongs to the council fire of the Seneca, the People of the Great Hill. The Seneca Nation is the Western Doorkeeper of our common longhouse. Like the Mohawks, if anyone wishes to enter the territory of the Haudenosaunee from the west, they must seek permission from the Seneca first. There are 8 Hoyane (Chiefs) sitting in the Seneca Council.
Together all five symbols unite to make the Hiawatha Belt. When there is a Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee, the Hiawatha Belt is present to remind the leaders to maintain the peace and to make decisions for only to today, but the future Haudenosaunee citizens yet unborn.
Ebook available for limited free download from the TDSB Virtual Library
Today, wherever we are in Ontario, we are on traditional indigenous territories.
We thank indigenous peoples for sharing the land with us.
We recognize the role that colonialism has played to shape a society
and an education system that has oppressed indigenous people on this land,
and in our school system.
The settlers among us recognize that our
settler ancestors committed genocide against indigenous people.
We also recognize that the school system we
lead is a reflection of that colonialism and genocide.
In the spirit of truth and reconciliation.
we gather on these traditional indigenous territories
and recommit to transform our education system
to decolonize our practices and minds and to honor indigenous histories,
culture and perspectives today
and every day in our systems, schools and classrooms.
*This is a student from Agnes MacPhail who is an academic braille reader, accessing all course materials in contracted Unified English Braille.
"Sugarcane"
Residential School Documentary
Nominated for 2025 Academy Award
Based on events that took place at St Joseph's Mission Residential School near Williams Lake First Nation, B.C.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sugarcane-oscar-nomination-1.7439643
https://films.nationalgeographic.com/sugarcane
TDSB Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are hosted on the lands of the Mississaugas of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Wendat. We also recognise the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples.
Nous reconnaissons que nous sommes accueillis sur les terres des Mississaugas des Anishinabes, de la Confédération Haudenosaunee et des Wendats. Nous voulons également reconnaître la pérennité de la présence des Premières Nations, des Métis et des Inuits.
