Dundas Valley School of Art acknowledges the negative impacts of colonization on the Indigenous Nations who lived and governed this land for thousands of years before colonization. We recognize the School is on Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation as well as the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee peoples. This land is covered by the Between the Lakes Purchase, 1792, between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. For thousands of years pre-colonization, these Nations lived and cared for this land, governed by matriarchal social systems, trading extensively across Turtle Island and creating finely crafted art works: from decorative carvings, beadwork to the ornate pottery that was produced here in Southern Ontario on this very land by the Haudenosaunee. Today, the City of Hamilton is home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island (North America) and we recognize that our journey has just begun and will continue to evolve as we do more to learn about the rich history of these lands so that we are able to transform of our personal and institutional relationships with our indigenous friends and neighbours.