Respect and Acknowledgement Declaration

Purpose

The FFPLTC understands the need to recognize and embrace the principles of Truth and Reconciliation with Ontario’s Indigenous population, as outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.

Declaration

1. The FFPL Board supports the statements made as a part of the Joint Declaration of Intent and Friendship that was made between the Town of Fort Frances and the Agency One First Nations including in particular:

   1. Since time immemorial, the Anishinaabe have maintained a spiritual connection to Mother Earth and a custodial responsibility for the lands gifted to them by the Creator

   2. Prior to the arrival of Europeans to what we now know as the Rainy River District, the Anishinaabe were the self-governing and self-determining inhabitants of this land, with their own laws, language, traditions, sacred sites, artifacts, and customs

   3. The Anishinaabe entered into Treaty #3 with the Crown on October 3, 1873 – an agreement which was intended to share 55,000 square miles of present day Northwestern Ontario and Southeastern Manitoba, and set out a relationship between Indigenous and settler people to share these lands and their bounty, as neighbours and treaty partners

   4. The Town of Fort Frances is a municipality that was incorporated in 1903

   5. Settler governments have not always lived up to their treaty commitments, nor their commitments as good neighbours to the Anishinaabe, as stated most recently by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC)

2. The FFPL Board is committed to the upholding its treaty commitments and to fulfilling the recommendations of the TRC. To this end the FFPLTC will use this Respect and Acknowledgement Declaration at the beginning of all library meetings.

   We acknowledge that we are meeting on the territory of Treaty 3, the traditional land of the Anishinaabe people. We also recognize our local Metis Nation that shares the spiritual history of this land.

Collection

The FFPLTC will provide collections relating to Indigenous cultures, languages, and peoples, including books, audio and video materials. Our collection will include titles by and about First Nation communities, and will include titles presented in the First Nation Communities Read program. Our teen and adult materials will also include First Nations and Metis graphic novels, and a selection of DVDs on history, culture, and current issues. These items will be indicated through the use of a collection sticker.

Services

The FFPLTC will provide welcoming spaces and library services to Indigenous peoples, and share elements of First Nations culture with non-Indigenous persons.