Hello! Ahnee! Sgé:no! Wachiya! Tansi!

We first recognize and respect all Indigenous peoples of the many different nations here on Turtle Island whose land is a part of Mother Earth. Despite hundreds of years of colonization, this land still receives our collective human grief, and we are humbled by the opportunity to live and work here.

Lighthouse for Grieving Children is located next to 16 Mile Creek (Bronte Creek) in Oakville, Ontario, on both the traditional and treaty land of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation whose land is recognized under treaty 22. Historically, and in the present day, these lands continue to be the Mississaugas, part of the Anishinaabe Nation, whose territory encompasses 3.9 million acres of southern Ontario.

Lighthouse services people living in Oakville, Mississauga, Burlington under treaty 14 (Head of the Lake) and Toronto treaty 13 (Toronto Purchase) and Milton and Brampton treaty n. 19 (Ajetance treaty).

We honour the Haudenosaunee, Métis, Attawandaron, and Huron-Wendat peoples of Peel and Halton, who lived on these traditional territories and continue to have presence here.

As settlers on this land, we understand that our being here is founded upon a history of colonization and violent genocide of many generations of Indigenous peoples and their children in Canadian residential schools. It is important to remember that as an organization that supports children’s grief, we still have so much to learn and reconcile with about the pain and grief endured by Indigenous peoples on these traditional lands.

As an organization that understands the sacred relationship after death, we honour all Indigenous ancestors who guard this land. We further recognize that we are all caretakers of this land, and that reconciliation requires non-Indigenous people fulfill our responsibilities of land stewardship.

In this land acknowledgment, we want to highlight some concrete ways we are putting into action our efforts to reconcile relationships with Indigenous peoples as a Children’s grief organization:

• All Lighthouse staff have completed training with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
• In 2021, we invited Indigenous guests to speak at our national conference
• In 2022, we have advocated for a keynote speech on residential school children’s graves in our membership with the Canadian Alliance for Grieving Children and Youth symposium
• We intend to partner with Indigenous elders and traditional knowledge keepers to support ceremonies for grief that benefit Indigenous, Black and Racialized communities (BIPOC)
• We would like to highlight notable Indigenous presence in, and surrounding, Halton and Peel:
  • Grandmother’s Voice
  • Hamilton Regional Indian Centre,
  • Peel Aboriginal Network

There are no specific First Nation communities located within the boundaries of Halton and Peel, however, there are Indigenous Communities, including:

• • The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation;
  • Six Nations of the Grand River;
  • Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council;
  • Métis Nation of Ontario;
  • Credit River Métis Council;

We hope that our humble efforts towards the spirit of reconciliation are felt by Indigenous and non-Indigenous folks. It is our belief that reconciliation starts with truth. And truth starts with acknowledging the past and the present. Though there have been efforts to erase the past and present, the land and Indigenous peoples remember it all.

N’iin, Miigwetch, Mia:wen thank you,

The Lighthouse Team,