This is Native Land

Imperfect reflections on a hyphenated identity growing up in Mississauga, and my experience with Ecosource’s Youth in Action - Credit Connections Program

I acknowledge that I reside on the traditional territory of the Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Ojibway/Chippewa peoples; the land that is home to the Metis; and the Mississaugas of the Credit. I also acknowledge that First Nations and Indigenous Peoples of Canada have been stewards of this land since time immemorial.

My parents immigrated here from the Philippines, so I am a child of settlers but also a colonial lineage. I am incredibly grateful to be living in this beautiful city of Mississauga. Urbanization has allowed generations of migrants like my family to find their livelihood, leisure and community here. I am just beginning to learn about the complexity of treaties between the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Crown.

I walk through my neighbourhood reflecting on the Credit River (also known as Trusting Creek, or Missinhe), the fragments of the Carolinian forest, and the biodiversity of the Great Lakes Region. This land is incredibly abundant and diverse - and it only becomes more apparent when we take time to listen to Indigenous educators and conservationists.