Land Acknowledgement

A Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes our relationship between Indigenous peoples and their traditional territories.

Acknowledging the land is an Indigenous practice that has been happening for thousands of years. It recognizes and respects the legal and spiritual relationship Indigenous peoples have with their territories. Today, a land acknowledgement remains a way of recognizing and expressing gratitude to the Indigenous peoples whose land we reside on.

We would like to start by acknowledging that the Anishinaabe lands on which we live and work are the traditional and Treaty #20 territories of the Chippewas of Georgina Island. As a Municipality, Aurora has shared responsibility for the stewardship of this land, while recognizing the many other Nations, whose presence here continues to this day.

We further acknowledge that Aurora is part of the treaty lands of the Mississauga’s of the Credit, recognized through Treaty #13 as well as the Williams Treaties of 1923. A shared understanding of how the rich cultural heritage that has existed for centuries and of how our collective past brought us to where we are today, will help us walk together into a better future.

The land acknowledgement is our first step to bringing attention and showing respect to the Indigenous peoples who first lived – and currently live – on the land where we live and work.