Acknowledgement

Land Acknowledgement

Ontario Therapy operates in Newmarket, Ontario, within the traditional and treaty territory of the Chippewas of Georgina Island, the Chippewas of Rama, and the Mississaugas of Scugog Island — nations of the Anishinaabe people who have stewarded these lands and waterways since time immemorial. This territory is also part of the Dish With One Spoon wampum belt covenant, a shared agreement among many nations to care for the land and its resources together.

We acknowledge this land with gratitude — and with the understanding that acknowledgement is a beginning, not an end. The work of reconciliation is ongoing, and it belongs to all of us who live and work here.

At Ontario Therapy, this acknowledgement connects to something we hold in the clinical work: that healing happens in relationship — to ourselves, to one another, and to the places we come from. The land beneath this practice has its own history. We don't take lightly the privilege of doing this work here.

Regarding the Dish With One Spoon: The Dish With One Spoon treaty is an agreement between the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources of the Great Lakes and surrounding lands. The dish represents the shared territory; the one spoon means we all eat from the same dish and must take only what we need, leaving enough for others. There is no knife — meaning the agreement is made in peace.

To learn more about the nations whose territory this is, visit Georgina Island First Nation, Chippewas of Rama, and Mississaugas of Scugog Island. You can also explore whose land you are on at native-land.ca.