An Indigenous Land Acknowledgement Statement for Quinte West will remain in the drafting stage, but the city will go forward with requests to honour the Indigenous community and its causes.

Council chose to defer the statement at its meeting on Monday night in order to make language adjustments and verify the inclusion of all Indigenous tribes in the region.

The acknowledgement statement, which would be read before every council and committee meeting, was developed by Quinte West Community Engagement Officer Hannah Brown earlier this year in consultation with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag Child and Family Services and CFB Trenton Office of the Environment.

Brown explained in her report to council that providing a land acknowledgement at the beginning of meetings “gives time for reflection and demonstrates recognition of Indigenous lands, treaties and peoples.

“It involves thinking about what happened in the past and what changes can be made going forward in order to further the reconciliation process,” stated Brown.

“Land acknowledgements mark a small and important step in the process of reconciliation and building a positive relationship with Indigenous peoples. By making a land acknowledgement we are taking part in an act of reconciliation, honouring the land and Indigenous presence which dates back over 10,000 years.

The draft statement reads as follows:

We begin this meeting by acknowledging that Quinte West is on Indigenous land that has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples from the beginning. As settlers and immigrants, we thank all the generations of people who have taken care of this land for thousands of years. Long before today, there have been Indigenous peoples who have been the stewards of this place.

In particular, we acknowledge the traditional territories of the Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation. This territory is covered by numerous treaties. We recognize and deeply appreciate their historic connection to this place.

We also recognize the contributions of Métis, Inuit, and other Indigenous peoples have made, both in shaping and strengthening this community in particular, and our province and country as a whole.

As settlers, this recognition of the contributions and historic importance of Indigenous peoples must also be clearly and overtly connected to our collective commitment to make the promise and the challenge of Truth and Reconciliation real in our community.

A number of councillors took exception to the use of “settlers and immigrants” in the statement, including Don Kuntze, who suggested that the terms “Quinte West community members” and “Canadians” should be used instead.

Both deputy mayor Jim Alyea and Coun. Michael Kotsovos added they received phone calls from residents who also expressed concern about the terms used in the statement.

Alyea also brought up the idea of a deferral in order to get more clarity on the inclusion of the Mississauga Tribe’s major presence in the region.

Coun. Terry Cassidy emphasized to council that if council and the municipality wants to be taken seriously about its commitment to truth and reconciliation, the statement needs to include the hardships of all Indigenous communities and be read on a consistent basis to keep issues at the forefront.

“It causes us to remember and feel what we feel, but it's important if we want to really understand what our role has been,” said Cassidy.

“Our role when we came here wasn't to be a Canadian or a citizen of Quinte West. We were here as settlers and colonizers, and we did things that caused what has happened,” he noted, adding the current language in the statement may strongly affect people of Indigenous descent in the community.

Cassidy added in order to reach true reconciliation and understanding with the Indigenous peoples, the land acknowledgement statement must be only a small fraction of what has to be accomplished.

“It's one thing to use good words, it's a much bigger thing, if we show some action,” he explained.

“Potentially, if we can find a structure of saying how do we support the needs of people that are indigenous in our community, that goes a long way to making our words really meaningful.”

He suggested that council establish some sort of working group or committee to work on reconciliation

“It may not cost us a heck of a lot of money, it may cost us some effort and time in working together with people that often we don't even notice are in our community, but it means a lot in terms of how much spirit we have that says that we care.”

Council chose to defer the statement for further tweaking, but did approve a request to fly various flags in the community to support Indigenous causes, including an orange flag flown at city hall every year on September 30 in support of the Every Child Matters movement.

A No More Stolen Sisters flag in support of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement will also be erected every year on May 5 at city hall, and an Indigenous culture/support flag with the medicine wheel on it will be flown year round at the waterfront trail at Centennial park

There will also be a recognition pathway, sidewalk or street crossing depicting feathers at the waterfront trail.