Land Acknowledgement
In the Department of Community Development at Acadia, we acknowledge that we are in Mi’kma’ki , the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This land is governed by the treaties of Peace and Friendship, first signed by the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqey, Peskotomuhkatiyik, and the British Crown in 1726. These treaties did not implicate or affirm the surrender or transfer of land to the British, but recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqey title and set the rules for what was to be a long-standing relationship between nations, initially preventing war and facilitating trade. We recognize that we are all treaty people and have responsibilities to each other and this land. As community development faculty, staff, and students, we are grateful to work and engage in community work in Mi’kma’ki. As an educational program within a university, we are continually learning more about how we can deeply engage and move forward the work of truth, reconciliation, and equity. We recognize that without action, an acknowledgment is empty. It marks the beginning of the work ahead of us, not the end.
Learn More:
- Treaty Education Nova Scotia - “We Are All Treaty People”
How to be a Treaty Person - United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
- Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls