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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Download the Final Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Cover of Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is now available for download from the Campus Library’s website.

Based on the truths shared by more than 2,380 family members, survivors of violence, experts and Knowledge Keepers, the two-volume report reveals that persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause of Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (2SLGBTQQIA) people.

According to Statistics Canada (2016):

  • While Indigenous women make up four per cent of all women in Canada, they account for 24 per cent of female murder victims.
  • Between 2001 and 2015, homicide rates for Indigenous women were nearly six times higher than for non-Indigenous women.
  • Indigenous women experience violent crime nearly three times more often than the national average.

The report calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country. It delivers 231 individual Calls for Justice directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians.

Want to learn more? Read the report and participate in Ontario Tech University’s and Durham College’s REDress Campus Campaign events Monday, February 10 through Friday, February 14.