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Stellar-Stories-AloneTogether

Short stories written by students at Driftwood Public School in Toronto

Short stories written by students at Driftwood Public School in Toronto

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We have the honour of being guests on this land, the traditional<br />

lands and waters of the Petun and Wendat Peoples,<br />

the Anishinaabek and Haudenosaunee Confederacies, and<br />

most recently the Mississaugas of the Credit River, as well<br />

as many other Indigenous nations, some of whose names<br />

are no longer remembered. We acknowledge all who<br />

came before us and have travelled the lands and waters of<br />

this territory.<br />

By saying the names of its original keepers, we remember<br />

that this territory continues to be subject to the Dish<br />

with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement<br />

between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Three Fires<br />

Confederacy of the Anishinaabeg to peaceably share and<br />

care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, the<br />

meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous<br />

Peoples from across the continent, and we are<br />

grateful to work in the community on this territory.<br />

While reconciliation means different things to each community,<br />

let it compel all of us to move beyond words of<br />

acknowledgement. If it were a word in Anishinaabemowin, it<br />

would be a verb meaning to make right the wrongs, and in<br />

context, to commit to learning the history and responsibility<br />

in the genocide, displacement, and theft of land from the<br />

Indigenous nations across the land known as Canada, and<br />

to continuously decolonize colonial frameworks and roles<br />

that were imposed upon Indigenous nations. We remind<br />

ourselves of how urgently current this history is and that<br />

we all have a choice in how we participate in the treaty<br />

of this place.

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