Oath to Turtle Island
In recognition of the importance of acknowledging that we gather on stolen land, Righting Relations is sharing a collaboratively-developed Oath to Turtle Island that highlights our commitment to this land and the peoples who have been its caretakers and defenders for generations.
Our Oath
We commit to protect, respect and honour Mother Earth and the natural laws of the creator,
That we will be respectful and bear true covenant to the First Peoples of this land.
We will seek their guidance and place the grandmothers at the centre of our circle of humanity and wisdom.
I fully acknowledge that I am stepping into covenant as a treaty person of Turtle Island.
I accept my responsibilities to steward the land and waters and to ensure there is enough for all of life and for generations to come.
Why the Oath to Turtle Island?
In their performance at the John Humphrey Centre's Ignite Change conference in Edmonton August 2017, a theatre group collective consisting of multiple members of the Righting Relations West Hub and directed by West Hub Grandmother Mirtha Rivera, explored the painful and problematic requirement of pledging allegiance to the then Queen as part of the citizenship process. In honour of Treaty 6’s 140th anniversary, this team made a commitment to renew our Treaty relations. The closing of the Gathering was marked by drafting the Oath to Turtle Island, as a revision of Canada’s Citizenship Oath.
Since 2017, this Oath has been shared across Righting Relations and has become a starting point for conversations about Treaty relations, land acknowledgement, and our individual and collective roles and responsibilities in the process of righting relations. We have chosen to share our Oath to Turtle Island in place of the customary land acknowledgement, and we ask our members and visitors to share with us, what does “land acknowledgement” mean to you? Visit our Contact Us page to send us your thoughts.