Letters – Our Readers Write: Summer 2022

Land Acknowledgments

I thoroughly enjoyed the article “Land Acknowledgments Decoded” in your spring issue. It is critical to recognize and acknowledge that we are all settlers here and this land first belonged to Indigenous people before it was expropriated through colonization. To read/hear land acknowledgments at meetings, gatherings and events should anchor us and inform how we move forward and the discussion and decisions that get made. To go even further, wouldn’t it be nice to see, on every township/county/regional sign, a reference to the Treaty Lands and who the original owners of the land are? Food for thought as we move into upcoming municipal election time.
Diane S., Erin

Just a quick note to say how much I appreciated the land acknowledgement article. It reminded me that we should be reading it aloud at the start of our races! So we will start doing that this year. It would have been helpful to have included the phonetic pronunciations of the Indigenous names – but I could find it on Google.
Jodi McNeill, Gotta Run Racing 

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Editor’s note: That would have been a good idea! Although pronunciations do vary somewhat, below are those shown in the Museum of Dufferin’s resource guide Indigenous History and Treaty Lands in Dufferin County.

Haudenosaunee (Six Nations)
“Ho-DEE-no-Sho-nee”
The Haudenosaunee or “People of the Longhouse” are a confederacy of six nations: the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Oneida and Mohawk.

Anishinaabe
“Ah-NISH-IH-nah-bay”
A term describing a group of culturally related peoples. Some groups that identify as Anishinaabe are the Ojibway (also called Ojibwe, Ojibwa or Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa) and Mississaugas of the Credit.

Attawandaron (Neutral)
“At-tah-wahn-da-ron”
Also referred to as Attiwandaron/Attiwandaronk.

Tionontati (Petun)
“Tee-oh-nahn-TAH-tee”
Also commonly referred to as Tionontate, Tionontatehronnon, Khionnontateronnon.

Lady’s Slippers

I walk frequently along our sideroad, three to five days a week, all seasons. Yesterday, May 28, I was startled to see a healthy clump of yellow lady’s slippers growing within 18 inches of the roadway. After 46 years, these flowers appear. Where have they been? I watch the roadside vegetation as I pass along.  This is a first. On my return, I looked again and found seven other distinct colonies in perfect bloom further from, but still subject to the indignities inflicted upon them by the road and traffic. My self- appointment as neighbourhood watchman has now a new client.
B Jones 

Nature writer Don Scallen responds: Great discovery! If you have kept a close look over the years, my guess is the slippers were there, but non-blooming. Has there been recent clearing of overhead vegetation (tree branches, etc)? This would allow more light to reach the plants. If not, they may be simply reaching maturity at this time. As for their presence along the road, this is not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve found many great wildflowers in such situations, where they get more sunlight than they would in the forest.