It's June 21, Happy Summer Solstice! In celebration of National Indigenous Month, and of Indigenous People's Day today, I wanted to share my own personal Land Acknowledgment that I wrote a few weeks ago.
I acknowledge that I am situated on land that was called Turtle Island and inhabited by the Indigenous peoples, who were the first caretakers of this land before colonialism. I acknowledge that though I am a first generation born in Canada and call this land my home, my family immigrated from South America in hopes of a better life here in North America. I am thankful for the opportunities I am afforded in Canada and I am committed to making things right in our ongoing efforts and work towards reconciliation for the cultural genocide committed in residential schools across Turtle Island by the European colonialism and the Catholic Church. As a faithful and devoted Christian, I am ashamed of what the Catholic Church did and emphasize that it was wrong and not the way of Christianity. Those individuals were not real Christians but evildoers claiming to be. As a descendant of slaves and a son of immigrants, I empathize with the pain and suffering indigenous people have endured and I am dedicated to ensuring nothing like this ever happens again in the future as we move forward towards a nation and world of peace and acceptance of all people. I acknowledge that no nation or race holds dominion over another; all people, land and things belong to God.
Back in September, on Orange Shirt and National Truth & Reconciliation Day, I shared my poem Ghosts From the Past, which you can see here. http://vickrambachan.blogspot.com/2023/09
