Stop 2: Unceded Algonquin Territory
1 sound
While we come from many territories with unique histories, and have our own specific relationships to land and place, today we gather on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin Anishinaabe territory.
The Algonquin peoples, who inhabit the territories near the rivers of Ontario and Quebec, have a rich and vibrant history and deep relationships with these lands, dating back to time immemorial. Although negotiations are ongoing, this land remains stolen and unsurrendered. The disputed territory involves 9 million acres, including the watersheds of the Kichsisippi, the Mattawa River, and the city of Ottawa. In 2016, an Agreement-in-Principle was signed that for some signaled a renewed relationship; however, it remains contested.
Our sound walk is situated within these complex histories, and within ongoing structures of settler colonialism, systemic racism, and Indigenous dispossession. We have a responsibility not only to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Algonquin Nation and other First Nations, Inuit and Métis across Canada; but to consider the lands we occupy, our positionality, and the ways we engage with the land as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The arrival of European settlers transformed the soundscapes in what is now known as Canada. Colonial policies, such as the Indian Act and the Chinese Immigration Act for example, forcibly silenced Indigenous voices, customs and cultural practices, and discriminated against racialized communities whose labour was essential to the formation of the state. These histories of erasure remind us of the many ways settler colonialism is embedded in Canadian political, economic, and legal systems, and in social and cultural contexts.
Throughout this guided listening tour, we invite you to reflect on the following questions: What is your relationship to the land known as Ottawa? What sounds do you associate with structures of power, such as settler colonialism and white supremacy? How might we listen for the echoes and resonances of power in the national soundscape over time? And what are our responsibilities to the sounds we hear, and to those that have been silenced?
