Land Acknowledgement

We organize in the traditional territory of Tkaranto (Toronto), a site of activity since time immemorial, with acknowledgement to the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee, the Huron-Wendat, the Petun, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, whose presence past, present, and future include being caretakers of the land. 

The FAC committee is comprised of a group of volunteers with a variety of intersecting identities. Whether we immigrated to this land by choice, by force, by displacement, or were born here in subsequent generations, we recognize that by being here as settlers and immigrants, we are bound to the treaties of this land. In short, “We are all Treaty People.”

FAC recognizes that this treaty and treaties across Turtle Island have been broken and ignored by the Canadian government as a vehicle for land theft, systematic colonial violence and genocide.

We present the Feminist Art Fest and all its affiliated programming, and all FAC events, with a commitment to unlearning our colonial histories and respecting and giving thanks to all that has come before, to the land and the many stories of the many diverse Indigenous nations from the four directions of Turtle Island.  

Our vision includes deference to systems of Indigenous knowledges and the wisdoms of community Elders and Knowledge Keepers, respect for and acknowledgment of the power and legacy of Black feminist activism along with the protection of the rights and safety of trans folks against so-called ‘freedom of speech’ values. FAC knows that the gender binary is a colonial construct and that across the world, countless cultures recognize, revere, integrate and celebrate multiple gender identities. Turtle Island Indigenous communities have always acknowledged these identities; they are not a manifestation of current feminist work. 

FAC does not refer to feminisms in their colonial terms of first, second, or third wave. Such designations discount and erase hundreds of years of Indigenous women's resistance to colonization, and thousands of years of Indigenous women exercising spiritual, economic and political power on this very land we gather today.

The theme of the 2020 Feminist Art Fest, Narrative Healing, is a call to action, one that demands radical care of ourselves, our communities, the land and its plants, waters and peoples, as well as our nation-to-nation relationships.

Written with guidance from Nadia McLaren (Anishnaabe), Educational Developer (Indigenous Learning) at OCAD University.