SIGNAL Co-Directors operate the network from three interconnected sites, the lands and treaties of which we wish to pay respect, gratitude, and thanks to.
We thus acknowledge that we live, work, and play at the University of Waterloo on the Haldimand Tract, The Haldimand Tract originally comprised 950,000 acres of land on both sides of the Grand River. Of this land, the vast majority was taken without proper surrender and transferred to settlers and the Crown. Today, only approximately 48,000 acres, about 5% of the original tract, remains in Six Nations hands. This land is within the traditional territories of the Neutral, Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. We commit to honoring these relationships and working toward justice and reconciliation, recognizing our ongoing responsibilities to these Nations.
We also acknowledge that York University is on the traditional territory of many Indigenous Nations. The area known as Tkaronto has been care taken by the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Huron-Wendat. It is now home to many First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities. We acknowledge the current treaty holders, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. 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 University of Ottawa, our third institutional node, is on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg and the people of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation which encompasses the watershed of the Kitchissippi (Big River) now commonly known as the Ottawa River. The Algonquin Anishinabeg have been here in the watershed for thousands of years long before European contact and will continue to be here well into the future. The University of Ottawa recognizes all Indigenous people in the region, from all Nations across Canada, who have also made Ottawa their home. The University of Ottawa acknowledges the traditional knowledge keepers, both young and old. And we honour their courageous leaders: past, present, and future and dedicate ourselves to moving forward in the spirit of partnership and Reconciliation. Together, the University of Ottawa takes responsibility for the heart health of all people in the region.
Following calls to move beyond acknowledgement, these recognitions carry responsibilities to question how our institutions benefit from colonial land relations, to challenge extractive research and teaching practices, and to build accountable relationships with Indigenous communities. This work must continue in our scholarship, our classrooms, and our everyday actions, grounded in humility, reciprocity, and a commitment to material change rather than mere recognition.