Acknowledging the Land: #o34melearns

The Ottawa Zone for Mathematics Education is situated on the traditional and unceded territory of the divided nation of the Algonquin Peoples.

We are aware that Land claim negotiations between the Governments of Canada and Ontario, and the Algonquins of Ontario continue to this day (Algonquin Land Claim).

​As a result of these negotiations, the First Peoples of this Land, who have been stewards of this land for millenia and who have been petitioning the government for nearly 2 1/2 centuries

native-land.ca

to establish a proper agreement (Keeptwo, 2021) will be able to experience "...[restoration of] historically significant sites…; contributions to the social and cultural objectives of [their] communities; and a foundation for economic development for the region" (Algonquin Land Claim).

This is exciting news, yet as inspiring as it all sounds, we must recognize that as settlers, we have much work to do to decolonize our own approaches to teaching and learning, and to share this with our membership. 

Much of this work will be rooted in listening, in feeling, in honoring the land and its people, and co-creating welcoming and safe spaces, with our Indigenous partners. Our work will also involve engaging with various mathematical perspectives that we might all "circulate together" (Wiseman et al, 2017).

We are thankful for the examples of Indigenous stewardship--that is, of the land and of relationships within and across peoples--that we have the opportunity to learn and work as a Council, and to provide leadership for our colleagues in Math Education.
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Niá:wen, Miigwech, Nakurmiik, Thank you.

New Web Resource

Periodically, we will be posting artefacts of our Council's journey into Reconciliation through Indigenous Education to this site. 

Our intention, with utmost sincerity and respect, is to share our learning about how we see ourselves becoming Treaty people--certainly, as we all move closer to finally experiencing a Land agreement for the Algonquins of Ontario. As leaders in Mathematics Education, it is also important that we share our openness and vulnerability towards new learning for the benefit of our members.

Before continuing to the next section, please take a moment to acknowledge the land you’re on, its people, and your own connections to the land.

Artefacts of Learning & Leadership

Below, you will find examples of Land Acknowledgements we have constructed and used to open our meetings and events. Notably, each one is of considerable length. Our purpose is simple, yet incredibly powerful and so important. As a chapter, we have decided that we will research and embed historical perspectives, stories, and examples of how we can encourage our members to counter oppressive narratives, thus making new spaces and opportunities for our Chapter to truly make good on its vision:

Making teaching and learning mathematics accessible for all

An incredibly important aspect to achieving this vision must and will involve partnerships and collaborations with First Peoples groups in the Ottawa Zone.
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If you have questions or comments, do feel free to reach out to our Executive. As a courtesy, we also ask that you innovate from any insights drawn from our activities and writings: it's important that we each do the work of understanding ways of knowing, being, and doing for ourselves. If you are interested in using any part of an Acknowledgment or other resource, please reach out to us using the contact form provided.

Acknowledgements:

Open to Learn

Indigenous Math

On Becoming

Our Relations

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Sources:

Keeptwo, S. (2021). We all go back to the land: The who, why, and how of land acknowledgements. Brush Education Inc. 

The Algonquin Land Claim. ontario.ca. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://www.ontario.ca/page/algonquin-land-claim  

Wiseman, D., Glanfield, F., & Lunney Borden, L. (2017, September 11). How we are coming to know: Report. Show Me Your Math. Retrieved May 6, 2022, from https://showmeyourmath.ca/comingtoknow/report/