I live and work in T'karonto, now known as Toronto. In Kanien’kéha (Mohawk), T’karonto means “where there are trees standing in the water.” I acknowledge that this city exists on colonized ground and that this land is the home and traditional territory of the Anishinaabe (including the Mississaugas of the Credit), Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat peoples. Today, it’s also home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

This land is covered by Treaty 13 and the Williams Treaties, which I recognize not as historical documents, but as living, ongoing agreements. As a settler on Turtle Island and a citizen of what is now called Canada, I acknowledge my role as a treaty partner. I’m aware of broken treaties that persist today and of my responsibility to actively engage in meaningful and continuous processes of truth and reconciliation with the First Peoples of this land.

As I offer this land acknowledgement, I’m mindful that such acknowledgements are often made in place of actual efforts toward remediation of historical and ongoing harms inflicted upon Indigenous peoples, harms that include but are not limited to genocide, ethnic cleansing and land theft.

I also reflect upon my identity as a member of the Eelam Tamil diaspora and how colonialism is at the root of my own family fleeing our homeland and becoming settlers here on this land.

In my astrological practice, I recognize Earth as the most important planet. The empty space in the middle of a natal chart represents us here on Earth. To practice astrology responsibly, we must acknowledge our connection to the Earth, the land we inhabit, and the ongoing harm done to it and its original protectors in the pursuit of colonialism and extractive capitalism.

My commitment is to always stand in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and their rights to safety and self-determination, and to continue to learn about this land and its history.

Resources to learn from and organizations to support:

• CBC Beyond 94

• Indigenous Climate Action

• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Reports

• National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

• Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto

• Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction

• Whose Land and Native-Land.ca

• Yellowhead Institute