Land Acknowledgement

Edgewalkers.ca is located in Regina, Canada. Regina is situated in Treaty 4 Territory, the traditional land of the Cree, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, and the traditional homeland of the Métis. I make it a practice to expand my consideration of the treaties between the Crown and First Nations peoples in Canada, especially how we benefit from treaties, and, more specifically, how I benefit. Let me explain what I mean.

Within three decades after the signing of Treaty 4, my families relocated from Prussia, the areas of Odesa, Crimea, and Bessarabia, which are now all part of Ukraine on the coast of the Black Sea and northward. They were farmers, mostly, and knew very well how to interact with and take care of the land. During the time of Tzar Nicholas II, before revolutions began, around 1900, my grandparents and great grandparents all chose to get out of the country as quickly as possible. They left Prussia and travelled to North America, toward Treaty 4 land, travelling through the northern United States and eventually into Canada. My family homesteads are also within Treaty 4 Territory, in the area of Fox Valley and Golden Prairie. This land is between the Cypress Hills and Great Sand Hills, both of which were intentionally left unceded at the signing of the Treaty. I am forever grateful for being able to spend time among the trees and the rest of creation, in these sacred spaces. My ancestors did not know the history of the Indigenous People, who were already here, nor their relationship with the land, nor how they were displaced to make room for settlers. By the time my ancestors knew the truth, they had already established their homestead. But now I know. For me, reconciliation means representing my ancestors and acknowledging our country’s history. I commit to creating space for my own learning, and to having conversation with Indigenous People, so I can know the truth and also to share what I know with others. I commit to respecting the land that has been entrusted to me in a way that also respects Indigenous worldviews that I continue to learn.

“To ignore the path is impossible, barefoot each little step is pain or meditation”
– Lisa Stroyan

In the early days of the Great Spirit, in the Wójupi Wi—Moon when the Leaves are Green (Lakota), a late snow had fallen in the Cypress Hills of Southwest Saskatchewan. I was feeling a desperate need to journey amidst the trees—to walk barefoot along the Ancient Path. I needed to feel skin-to-skin with Unci Maka—Grandmother Earth (Lakota). I get this way quite often; anxiety and restlessness grow within me until I cannot sit still or think straight. When this happens, I know I have not been attentive to Creator’s call. In the same way my body can become malnourished, so also does my spirit come to a place where lack of connection with Life-giving Spirit diminishes my personal wellness. 

Although a late snow had fallen, Cherie and I made haste out of the city and into the countryside; we followed the sun towards the horizon. By the next morning, we were in the hills. We were surrounded by lodgepole pines. It did not take long for us to be on the first trail. All stress was quickly leaving my being. I was becoming one with Unci Maka once again—the way Creator intended us to be. 

I often think about the ways I acknowledge the land in comparison with what I have been told by western worldviews and corporate structures. I find value in the statements found within land acknowledgements as a means of honouring Treaty relationships between Indigenous People and The Crown. But I have come to know these as potentially limiting statements because they do not necessarily challenge me to think beyond what they say. I have come to know a deeper spiritual meaning to acknowledging Unci Maka. 

I find that at times such as these, when I feel so close to Creator and creation, the experience lives beyond the description of human words. But I prayed many prayers, whispered many songs, wrote many meditations, and contemplated many messages from the Divine Family. I heard life returning to the forest. I felt the hope of a new season.  Unci Maka is my grounding. She nourishes me with all I need, through Creator’s wisdom. I acknowledge her here, at the beginning of these pages, as the gift from Creator God to provide wisdom to walk my path in a good way. She is my companion on my journey. I was formed from her mud at the time of creation; she will receive my body once again when this earthen vessel is no longer of any use, and my spirit returns to God. 

In those days, as I walked the path of the past generations, I listened to the stories whispered by Ancestor Trees and Grandparent Rocks. I paused, removed my shoes, and walked skin-to-skin through the ground that was wet with the spring thaw. I felt the earth between my toes; peace returned to me from the ground-up.