Last year, June 21 was a home coming, seeing friends and family I've missed over these past three decades. Thirty years ago this month, I set out to spend some time with my mother's relatives, and learn more about this maternal homeland. I'd missed Canada's first Indigenous Peoples Day and the expanding national dialogue and prioritization that came after. The world, including Toronto, has learned so much these past few decades, about Indigeneity, respect, and reconciliation. Court cases generations long finally concluded, clarifying the relationship between Canada, Canadians, and the living generation of Indigenous People who have been placed here to care for and protect this continent since the beginning of time.
Through all the changes, big and small, the documentation of history continues in legislation, academia, industry, and art. Of all the forms, I find art most engaging, memorable and impactful.
So it is that the annual Pow Wow and Festival at Fort York, has continued, in varous iterations, since its inception in the early 2000s.
On this (my second ever) Indigenous Peoples Day, I find myself in awe and wonder that so many Toronto residents and visitors have the interest and motivation to be present, active and join these events, whether a workshop, performance, or artist talk.
My hope is that we can carve space to fully realize both the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People enacted on this Day (June 21, 2021) as well as the 94 Calls to Action that our late great Honourable Murray Sinclair left as our first set of homework.
It is within this context that we see what we each can contribute to the greater good, while ensuring space sharing and a multiplicy of voices carry the essence of all our creation stories into the future we make by walking the path together.
June 21, 2026
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