Above: Circle member Shayne Martell doing a traditional grass dance in front of the a white board where the Circle had just worked through shared goals and values visualized as a tree, April 2024.
VALUES:
Honouring difference
Respect
Community/Reciprocity
Support and Healing
Accountability
Action
Fairness
Consultation
Doing no harm
Mindfulness/Receptiveness
Care that is calm, gracious, and full of dignity
GOALS:
Learn from the land
Start from the Truth (reconciliation may come after)
Indigenize education
Cross-cultural sharing
Celebrate Indigenous art
Share culture together (including food and art and music)
Witness and support each others journey
Teach history/know present/change future
Support and learn from youth
Heal and learn through art and technology
Building empathy
Bridge cultural and knowledge gaps
Create Indigenous spaces
Connect Indigenous students and groupsCreate opportunities for uncensored witnessing of survivors stories
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land that the York University campuses are on, the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Wendat. It is now home to many First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities. This territory is subject of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement to peaceably share and care for the Great Lakes region. The territories in the Markham area are covered by the Upper Canada Treaties. We also acknowledge the current land claims for the Rouge Tract by the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This land acknowledgement is in process as together, we continue to learn more about the land of the Markham campus and its history.