SMITH COMMERCE SOCIETY LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Queen’s University is situated on the unceded traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, and following a forced relocation, the Haudenosaunee, peoples. To this day, it continues
to be the home of the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee peoples, as well as for a significant Métis community and First Peoples from other Nations across Turtle Island. In 1783, this land was colonized through the deed known as the “Crawford Purchase”. In return for this large, broad, and vague claim to territory, the Crown made a disproportionate payment in the form of blankets, clothing, guns, and ammunition.
As Commerce students, we urge you to think about how the success of Canada’s economy is directly dependent on the oppression and violent colonization of Indigenous
peoples. Canada’s abundant natural resources have traditionally been stewarded and protected by Indigenous Nations since time immemorial. On the land we find ourselves on today, the Indigenous peoples protected the harvesting of land and water, along with four-legged and winged animals, with a treaty belt called One Dish One Spoon. Through the many attempts to challenge Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty over their lands and forcibly assimilate their cultures, we recognize the actions of the Canadian government as being a cultural genocide – and its effects are ongoing. As the incoming generation of young workers, it is your duty to learn about the territories you occupy, to learn about the peoples’ lands you are on, and to work towards a relationship that fosters reconciliation between all nations.
To acknowledge this traditional territory is to recognize its longer history, one predating the establishment of the earliest European contact. It is also to acknowledge this territory’s significance for the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples who lived and continue to live upon it; people whose practices and spiritualities are tied to the land and continue to develop in relationship to the territory and its other inhabitants today.
We are grateful to be able to live, learn, and play upon these lands.
Recognizing that we must make reconciliation a priority, ComSoc Assembly will work relentlessly to develop initiatives and policy to give all Commerce student a strong understanding of the importance of Indigeneity. To us, reconciliation means using our privilege to call for greater accountability amongst ourselves and our institutions, and to call for greater action to uphold Their lands and culture’s integrity. To learn more about the significance of land acknowledgements and the land you live on, please visit Whose Land.